Indeed.
I can think of a couple of links, but they are pretty tenuous. "Cartesian" has to do with philosopher and mathematician Rene Descartes.
His most famous postulate is "I think, therefore I am". Maybe it's got something to do with the attitude: "you did the thing, therefore you are guilty of it?"
Alternatively, Cartesian geometry is how we think of the three dimensions of space around us, where x, y and z dimensions are all independent. And yet, there are other forms of geometry much more complex than this, where space itself is curved. Perhaps it has something do with moving in multiple dimensions, but people only see you moving in their dimension? For a very rough analogy, two cars on the ground will crash into each other, but two planes can pass above or below one another. People could view you as acting one way (bad), when there is really something higher-level going on (you're being controlled)?
But yeah... it's not clear.
These ARE the droids we're looking for. That was lucky.
Yeah, I came here after being unable to figure out why the trope is named this way, either, even after poking through the various definitions of the word online. It's a good trope, but anybody got an idea for a less bewildering name?
I think it has something to do with deeds being more important than intent. I'm not sure if that's a part of Descartes's philosophy, though.
Did you know that if you square any integer and divide the result by either 3 or 4, the remainder is always either zero or one?
Why is the word "Cartesian" used? That should probably be explained in the trope description.
Christian Furry Brony D&D gamemaster & homebrewer Hide / Show Replies