How do you know if you are living?

So, I asked ChatGPT and this is what it told me: “The fact that you are able to perceive, think, feel, and experience the world around you is a strong indication that you are living. Other signs of life include the ability to breathe, grow, reproduce, and respond to stimuli. If you are unsure whether you are living or not, it may be helpful to consult a medical professional or trusted individual for guidance.”

When I read the first sentence, I thought of the article I read earlier this month on my train to Berlin when I was thinking about life, about love, and about the meaning of living. The article discussed Descartes’ famous dictum: Cogito, Ergo Sum or “I think, therefore I am.”

I always wonder how we know if we are thinking or not? Sometimes I have thoughts that come and go and they are not connected at all. Do we generate thoughts or do they just appear by themselves? There are moments when I just want to be empty, to detox myself from my own thoughts but I just can’t. But there are also moments when I want to think and nothing comes.

Are we most blank when we are too full?

People say happiness comes from simple things. And I agree with that. A good cup of coffee can bring so much more joy than many other big things, right?

If breathing is counted as a sign of living, what about when we sleep? If so, many, at some point in their life, might be the most living creatures when they are sleeping. Of course, including me.

I remember sometimes walking around very late at night and I saw drunk people who literally just walk. I don’t know what they are thinking. I think… is it true that sometimes we are simply walking corpses. According to ChatGPT, we have indicators of a living thing – we can breathe, we can walk, we can feel but are we living?

In the end, what’s the point of knowing if we are living or not? I think if I still can question myself this, I am living 😉

Today I went to a coffee shop and while writing this blog, in front of me was a couple who came to the coffee shop, ordered their drinks, and didn’t talk at all. Now they started talking, the man moved to the same side with the woman and they talked – or basically, he talked. I hope they solved their problem, at least she smiled. The distance can be measured by thousands of miles, a few footsteps, or sometimes simply a small coffee table. When we are living in the same dimension, it’s never too far despite what continent we are but sometimes sitting right in front of each other, we still don’t see each other.