The Cartesian Thinking Model mainly consists of four steps: doubt, analysis, verification, and testing.
Doubt means maintaining a skeptical attitude when faced with any viewpoint.
Analysis means determining whether the conditions that produced a viewpoint are true and whether the logic is sound.
Verification means reworking the logic and supplementing the conditions to make it more accurate and complete.
Verification means questioning once again the logic refined through analysis and validation, ensuring the reliability of the new conclusion.
Doubt means questioning old views, analysis means breaking down old views, validation means establishing new views, and verification means questioning new views.
We use questioning to test whether the truth or reality is genuinely true. If we want to verify that it is true, we must first doubt that it is true. Note that doubting its truth does not mean deciding that it is false. We need to look for evidence that supports its being untrue; if we find such evidence, then it is false. This leads us to continue searching for what is true. If we cannot find evidence that it is untrue, then we further verify its truth, or bring it closer to the truth. The entire thought process is actually the process through which people come to understand the world, see themselves clearly, and approach the truth through thought and action. This is also the entire thinking process of critical thinking.
The Cartesian model is a thinking tool based on questioning. Therefore, when using it, it is easy to become trapped in endless questioning of every viewpoint, basis, and even fact, and to begin doubting oneself. Is what I see really true? How should truth and falsehood be defined? Who can define them? Can I? Do I exist? How can I prove that I exist? How should existence be defined? Who can define existence? Can I? This can lead to a vicious cycle of doubt. His way of breaking the chain of questioning was also through questioning: questioning the doubt itself is like believing that two negatives make a positive. Thus, he felt that the very fact that I question whether I exist is itself worth questioning. If I am still thinking about these damn questions, then I exist—that is, I think, therefore I am. This is the essence of Descartes’ thought: it is the endpoint of questioning and the starting point of belief.
That is to say, we can question things, but once questioning reaches a certain point, we need to rely on belief to avoid taking it too far. Some people in real life have not understood the complete process of Descartes’ critical thinking, and focus on Descartes’ first step—questioning—while ignoring the more brain-racking and troublesome processes that follow: analysis, verification, and testing. This kind of taking thought out of context not only prevents critical thinking from serving its purpose, but also has negative effects: it allows people to easily use a questioning attitude to reject whatever they dislike or are unwilling to accept, while believing only what they are willing to believe, ultimately becoming what people call contrarians. So there is nothing wrong with raising questions, but please responsibly provide your evidence and reasoning process.
Please complete the final step. Carrying out a complete exercise in Cartesian critical thinking is actually not easy. Even after providing evidence and your reasoning process, you still need to verify your own viewpoint. This is the final step. The final method of verification is still questioning. Never mistake questioning for negation: questioning is merely a means, a means of getting closer to the truth. If you want to approach the facts and the truth, you must complete the final step.
We can see that every step in the Cartesian thinking model revolves around questioning: doubt means carrying questions with you, analysis means seeking questions, verification means proving the questions, and testing means questioning my questions. Questioning is the key that enables the Cartesian model to seek the truth, but questioning is not negation; it is the beginning of analyzing, verifying, and testing something. Questioning is meant to lead to belief—not belief that the truth you mention is true simply because you say so, but belief that the truth you mention really is the truth.