I think that the Decartes reading was interesting in that it helped me realize that there was a lot of thought behind a very famous quote. I think that Decartes invests a very peculiar problem: if everything we know is based off of information from our senses, do we really know anything at all? I think the inciting incident to the meditations has a lot to do with one’s slow realization of the falsely accepted truths that are accepted from one’s youth. Decartes seems to have overcome a lot of philosophical obstacles so it seems natural he would end up on this question.
As far as for this topic, I would say that there is definitely some skepticism when it comes to trusting one’s senses. They can definitely be deceived sometimes, but I think that dwelling on the issue is a bit unproductive and sometimes silly. Whether it is or is not reliable to trust our senses to tell us what reality is, we will never fully know, and even if we did, there would be little to nothing to do, as trusting our senses is a basic requirement for survival and day-to-day life. Thus, although I am glad one intelligent philosopher analyzed the issue, it is not for me to ponder upon.
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I appreciate your skepticism about Descartes' enterprise, Gabe. But does it have to be an entirely hopeless endeavor to doubt, or study, one's senses? To take just one example, we have a great deal of evidence from psychological study now about the level of inaccuracy of 'eyewitness' testimony -- which is still something that contributes to convictions and punishments (including the death penalty) in this country. This is to say that we quite often trust our senses (or memories) more than is warranted, with potentially very serious effects.
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