This reminds me of how people talk about infinity we can’t observe it directly, but we believe in it because we can understand the concept in our minds.

Could Descartes be saying that the existence of God is proven simply by the fact that we can imagine a perfect being?

I think the point is that if something is completely clear and makes perfect sense to your mind, then you can trust it to be true.

I can see what he is talking about now

Confused

I didn’t expect Descartes to dive into the mind-body separation so quickly it feels like a big philosophical leap early in the text.

Coming back to the algebra connections.

I wonder if Descartes is saying that thinking is the only proof of existence. Can feelings or senses count too?

It’s like building a house from scratch — even if everything else collapses, the one solid block left is the fact that I’m thinking.

I think this is leading up to a bigger argument about how truth works not just in math, but in philosophy too.

Main idea with these four rules is that Descartes is trying to create a clear and dependable way to find truth by using reason.

I don't understand what this meant but I will check back on it

This reminds me chemistry. When you need to identify something, you start breaking it down until you find the core value, so in this case his thoughts.

Descartes has set laws for governing.

Interesting phrase, need to understand this more deeper

I’m going to reread this section to better understand how Descartes compares the ancient and modern approaches.

I was confused when Descartes said algebra was a confusing and obscure art — I’ve always seen it as something that helps make things clearer, not harder to understand.

This piece reminds me of sports, when you first start slow you need to check if you are doing your form/steps correctly before moving on

This connects with the first phrase and is also how when practicing your steps or form you don't want to go to fast or you might fail.

Now we transition to not failing the form/step.