I Am Thinking, Therefore I Am — a quiet blade slipped beneath a famous phrase. We’ve inherited “I think, therefore I am” as marble. But Descartes’ own French breathes: “Je pense, donc je suis” — present, alive: I am thinking, therefore I am.

In this reflection, Papa Onyx traces how a small translation choice can shape whole cultures. We visit 1637’s Discourse on the Method (French), 1641’s Meditations (Latin), and Descartes’ 1647 return to French — then ask what else we’ve accepted in stone that began as breath.

• Label vs. pulse: “I think” or “I am thinking”
• Why Descartes chose French (access) and Latin (authority)
• How English inherited the tombstone
• What other tongues (French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German) still hear
• The larger question: where else has mistranslation shaped us?

Join the conversation: the hearth for comments is the companion essay on OnyxPonders.com (search the title “Cogito Ergo Sum — What Got Lost in Translation”).

Intro voice: Luniea • Host: Papa Onyx • Production: Papa Onyx