There is an old joke. It may have come from Socrates though it is not I believe recorded as his. As you know Socrates discourses' were recorded by Plato rather than Socrates himself and the joke is "about", rather than "from", but is supremely illustrative of what might have been and always "is". I guess you could say it is Socratic.
Student: "Socrates, Why do you always answer a question with a question? "
Teacher: " What's wrong with a question? "
Indeed! Answer that student because it is hellishly complex.
Socrates, as Plato records him, asked questions of students in response to their questions as a means of eliciting thought from them, rather than providing didactic statements. It may have been slow and painful and often seemed silly but it allowed thinking out answers for oneself. The students answer may well have lead to a further question in which Socrates feigned ignorance that allowed the student the revelation of coming up with a further answer. The discourses were extractive and often seemed like pulling teeth.
Have we worshiped the accumulation of fact that trumps question and thought, and, will question and thought sometimes expose the nakedness of "known" fact ?
I had two teachers in my lifetime that took the time to employ Socratic methods. They were confusing, exasperating, exposed our ignorance, but were never arbitrary, in thrall of unquestioned facts or spent all our time thinking inside the box. It took me fifty years to realize it was no joke to question everything. There is nothing wrong with a question and it is still easy to be wrong!
Rule 1 Fear of being wrong will destroy the willingness to think outside the box.
Rule 2 Fear of being wrong will destroy the initiative to risk taking a voyage of discovery.
Rule 3 Fear of being wrong will inevitably lead to a pedestrian lifestyle, safe but wounded.
Student: "Socrates, Why do you always answer a question with a question? "
Teacher: " What's wrong with a question? "
Indeed! Answer that student because it is hellishly complex.
Socrates, as Plato records him, asked questions of students in response to their questions as a means of eliciting thought from them, rather than providing didactic statements. It may have been slow and painful and often seemed silly but it allowed thinking out answers for oneself. The students answer may well have lead to a further question in which Socrates feigned ignorance that allowed the student the revelation of coming up with a further answer. The discourses were extractive and often seemed like pulling teeth.
Have we worshiped the accumulation of fact that trumps question and thought, and, will question and thought sometimes expose the nakedness of "known" fact ?
I had two teachers in my lifetime that took the time to employ Socratic methods. They were confusing, exasperating, exposed our ignorance, but were never arbitrary, in thrall of unquestioned facts or spent all our time thinking inside the box. It took me fifty years to realize it was no joke to question everything. There is nothing wrong with a question and it is still easy to be wrong!
Rule 1 Fear of being wrong will destroy the willingness to think outside the box.
Rule 2 Fear of being wrong will destroy the initiative to risk taking a voyage of discovery.
Rule 3 Fear of being wrong will inevitably lead to a pedestrian lifestyle, safe but wounded.
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