About

Dude Are You Real? or René Descartes "That's Actually Some Pretty Solid Evidence" is a series of memes based on a webcomic in which one person asks a friend if they're real, the friend responds, "Dude I think I am," then philosopher René Descartes steps into frame and says, "That's actually some pretty solid evidence." The comic, which references Descartes' "I think, therefore I am" philosophy, was posted by X / Twitter user @ThisStupidTwink in March 2024 and garnered viral spread over the following months, inspiring a viral voiceover by X user @coalbones, which became the basis of several viral animations and memes on YouTube and TikTok.

Origin

On March 29th, 2024, X^[1] user @ThisStupidTwink posted a webcomic referencing René Descartes' "I think, therefore I am" philosophy.^[2] In the comic, one person, seemingly high on marijuana, asks another high friend, "Dude are you real?" The friend answers, "Dude… I think I am?" In the last panel, René Descartes pops into frame and says, "That's actually pretty solid evidence." The friends exclaim, "René Descartes??!" The post gained over 47,000 likes and 7,800 reposts in a year.

Spread

The meme garnered viral spread over the following months, inspiring further memes and animations. On March 30th, 2024, the comic was reposted to the /r/philosophymemes^[3] subreddit, garnering over 1,400 upvotes in a year.

On September 21st, X^[4] user @coalbones posted a voiceover of the comic, garnering over 8,500 likes and 2,500 reposts in seven months.

Also on September 21st, 2024, YouTuber^[5] CamTheCan posted an animation based on the meme, using the voiceover, garnering over 118,600 views in seven months.

On October 17th, TikToker^[6] @sophiathedookie posted an animation based on the audio, garnering over 3.3 million views in six months.

On October 20th, 2024, YouTuber^[7] Hydraulic Beanbag posted an animation based on the meme that extends the joke, showing Descartes getting high with the friends and admitting he "made up" all that "philosophy stuff," garnering over 200,000 views in six months.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References