Evil Genius

"Accordingly, I will suppose not a supremely good God, the source of truth, but rather an evil
genius, supremely powerful and clever, who has directed his entire effort at deceiving me. I will regard the heavens, the air, the earth, colors, shapes, sounds, and all external things as nothing but the bedeviling hoaxes of my dreams, with which he lays snares for my credulity. I will regard myself as not having hands, eyes or flesh, or blood, or any senses, but nevertheless falsely believing that I possess all these things...

...But this undertaking is arduous, and a certain laziness brings me back to my customary way of living. I am not unlike a prisoner who enjoyed an imaginary freedom during his sleep, but when he later begins to suspect that he is dreaming, fears being awakened and nonchalantly conspires with these pleasant illusions. ...I dread being awakened, lest the toilsome wakefulness which follows upon a peaceful rest must be spent thenceforward not in the light but among the inextricable shadows of the difficulties now brought forward."

-Rene Descartes
Meditation #2

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