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Do you like to ask questions, questions, and more questions? Do you get frustrated with people who think that they are always right? Or are you the kind of person who is uncomfortable asking questions and is satisfied with the answers someone else provides?
If you lived in Greece in the 5th century B.C., and you came across a man named Socrates in the marketplace, depending on your comfort level with questions, you would have either stayed and chatted or run for the hills. That's because Socrates, a philosopher who lived from 469–399 B.C., devoted the later part of his life to questioning the truth about public opinions. His approach to questioning was considered brutal, often leaving his victim dazed and confused.
Claiming "The only thing I know is that I know nothing," Socrates did not have his own definition of truth; he believed that only by questioning what others believed as truth could he find his own truths about key moral concepts such as good and evil, justice, and wisdom. His philosophies about life, such as "Know thyself" and "Ignorance is the only evil," ring as true today as they did in ancient Greece.
Socrates spent so much of his life questioning others that he never took the time to write anything down. So the only information we know about him comes from the writings of his students, such as Plato. In Apology, Plato outlines the four central features of Socrates' approach to philosophy and its relationship to life: 1. Ironic modesty: "No one is wiser than you." 2. Questioning habit: "To achieve genuine self-knowledge you must go through a series of interrogations." 3. Devotion to truth: "The unexamined life is not worth living." 4. Dispassionate reason: "Apply reason without letting emotions get in the way."
Unfortunately, when you bombard people with questions that make them doubt their own beliefs, you make a few enemies. Perhaps it is no wonder that Socrates was accused and found guilty of corrupting young minds. He was sentenced to death by having to drink a poison called hemlock. Even after being sentenced to death, Socrates calmly continued to reason out the question of the fate of a human being after death.
Socrates gets a lot of credit for searching for answers to life's big questions. As you continue down your own road on your search for wisdom and truth, what questions will you ask?
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