Describe René Descartes' wax experiment in the Second Meditation and what it shows about human experience:

Although Descartes has proven to himself that he exists as a thinking thing (an argument he outlines with the cogito), he is still dissatisfied with any proof of the physical world and the reliability of his senses to determine its nature. He decides to conduct an experiment to demonstrate the shortcomings of his senses by presenting the reader with a lump of wax. Descartes observes that in its current state the wax feels cold and solid, makes a hollow sound when tapped, smells of flowers and tastes of honey. However when it is brought near the fireplace, the wax loses its shape, its taste, its sent and becomes hot to the touch. Descartes' senses dictate that this is a completely different object, as it shares none of the sensory qualities with the wax he held in his hand. However, as Descartes points out, this is absurd. Despite what our senses would tell us, we know that the same object that it was before it melted as it is after. Therefore, our knowledge that the wax remains the same cannot come from our senses, but some other facet of our being. Descartes considers the possibility that the concept of the wax exists within his imagination, but when one removes all sensory qualities from the wax, all they are left with is something extended and flexible, which could apply to any number of things, and is therefore not a good indicator of what the wax is. All that is left to Descartes is the intellect, which Descartes reasons perceives the wax as it is. Naturally his intellect can be led astray by his untrained senses and his imagination, but if he has a clear and distinct idea of the wax and its properties, then he can truly perceive it as it exists in the world. This experiment demonstrates, according to Descartes, that it is the mind alone which perceives external objects in the physical world.