sortiwa
BY SOFO ARCHON
This is the transcript of a spontaneous talk.
Socrates is perhaps the most loved philosopher in history. Yet, when he was alive in Ancient Greece, a lot of people did not like him. In fact, many of them hated him, especially those in power.
The reason for that was that Socrates used to roam the city of Athens, and he would challenge people’s beliefs by asking them questions about them. He would ask them, “Why do you hold those beliefs? Why do you think that they are correct or right? Why do you think that they are benefiting you or society?”
And those people did not have any good answer to offer. They were confronted with their own ignorance. They came to see that their beliefs were unfounded, and they felt threatened because of that. Because they were so attached to their beliefs—their religious beliefs, their political beliefs, and so on—that they were identified with them. Those beliefs were an extension of their own ego. So when Socrates was challenging their beliefs, they saw that as a threat to themselves.
The only people that liked Socrates’ questioning were, the youth. Younger people are more open-minded, they are willing to question their beliefs, and to receive new information. They are willing to learn. They are open to new ideas, whereas older generations are usually stuck in their habitual ways of living and thinking. And they don’t want to change because they have built themselves and their lives around their belief system.
Socrates did not want to offend or hurt anybody. He just wanted to help people think—to help awaken people to their own ignorance. Socrates used to say that there is only one thing that distinguishes himself from others, and that is that he was aware of his own ignorance. He said, “I am wiser than other people because I don’t claim to know what I don’t know. Whereas a lot of people think that they know, when in reality, when they are questioned about their beliefs, it becomes clear that they don’t know what they think they know.”
Socrates was urging people to think. And those in high positions of political power did not like that because those in power don’t want people to think. Because otherwise, they cannot be easily controlled, manipulated, exploited, or deceived.
So Socrates was accused of corrupting the youth and of undermining religion and traditional morals—charges that were punishable by death in ancient Athens. And eventually, Socrates was sentenced to death. He was killed. He was given poison to drink.
Now, the story of Socrates has some important lessons to teach us. The first one is the importance of being humble about what we know—the importance of realizing that we know little and that there is a lot of room for learning. Because when we think that we know everything, that we have figured out everything, that our beliefs are right, that our opinions are true—then how can we learn more? How can we improve our way of thinking, our way of living?
I’m reminded of that famous Zen story where a Westerner went to Japan to visit a famous Zen master to inquire about Zen Buddhism. And when he met that Zen master, the Zen master served him some tea but kept on pouring tea into the Westerner’s teacup until it started to overflow. And the Westerner freaked out and said, “Stop it! Can you not see? It has overflown!” And the Zen master said, “Like that cup of tea, your head is filled with ideas and beliefs and opinions and knowledge. How can I show you what Zen is unless you empty it first?”
So we need to empty our cups, and we can do that by questioning what we know and by admitting that we don’t possess all the answers.
The second important lesson that we can learn is that to question our beliefs and to question others’ beliefs, we need to be very courageous, because we are going to be seen as weirdos, eccentric, and threats to society. And we might eventually be punished for that. If we publicly question beliefs and traditions and authority, we might be canceled. We might be mass hated. We might be censored. We might be deplatformed, nowadays, from social media. We might be banned or shadow-banned.
But regardless of the consequences, it’s important to try to seek the truth. It’s important that we examine our beliefs and lives. Because only this way can we better understand ourselves and the world around us, and better live in this world.
For, as Socrates said, “the unexamined life is not worth living.”
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