Discourse Part 3 page 18

"... and where, in the midst of the crowd of a great and very busy people who are more concerned with their own affairs than they are curious about those of others, I have been able, without lacking any of the amenities to be found in the most bustling cities, to live as solitary and as withdrawn a life as I could in the remotest deserts."

Life is about being concerned with your own affairs. If we didn't have any priorities and responsibilities than what kind of a life should we lead. To live in solitary is to exclude yourself from civilization and to also cut yourself off from the ever changing world. How can Descarte just shut himself out of the world and conclude the existence of God and the disciplines that we should undertake without first seeing how other people are living and thinking. Surely Descarte wasn't the most disciplined and intelligent human being and Im sure there were others who thought allot of the same ideas that he did.