For nearly 400 years, the Western world has been built on a single, foundational idea. In 1637, the French philosopher René Descartes famously declared, “Cogito, ergo sum”—“I think, therefore I am.” With that sentence, the modern world was born. We defined human existence by the individual mind. We convinced ourselves that the self is self-sufficient, that our identity is found in our internal thoughts, and that success is an individual pursuit. But looking at the mental health statistics of 2026, it is becoming increasingly clear that Descartes made a critical error. By centering the "I," we created a society of isolated achievers. We have more autonomy than ever before, yet we…