1) In your own words, briefly explain how Descartes came to be so much more certain of himself as a thinking consciousness ("I think therefore I am") than he was of the physical reality of his everyday world. You sit at your computer now but how can you be sure that it's real and you're not actually dreaming instead?
2) Could a machine think or could a computer develop consciousness? What is the difference between thinking as a human being and computing as a highly developed robotic entity?