Descartes had no way of knowing that he was inaugurating something that would be taught as “modern philosophy” four centuries later. In some ways, the Meditations presents a deliberate departure from what came before. In other ways, it feels Medieval.
By never allowing themselves to be seen getting things wrong, cynics can maintain a sheen of cleverness. But if they were in fact clever, they’d investigate further. They might even discover that, in some cases, people aren’t so bad after all.
We’re used to being the smartest things on the planet. What happens when that’s no longer the case?