Socratic Wisdom

I remember in my first year of college, Socrates' Apology was one of the first works I studied. I was amazed by what he said, "I am the wisest man because I don't know hardly anything, and I know I don't know". (paraphrased) I remember one of my first comments on this work was "Great, so I come to college to learn that I don't know anything, and that I am wiser by not knowing anything, how does that make sense?"

Well, it's pretty simple; you cannot fill a full cup. If you think you know everything about a subject, how are you suppose to be open to learning new things? If I think I know everything about math just because I am really good at it, then why should I be in college? With education, you cannot learn if you are unwilling to learn.

However, I believe this is true about life also. You can't learn about new people, their lives, their thoughts if you are not open and willing to hear them. What I think is horrible is how judgmental and prejudice people are, and because of this they are not willing to learn about someone who is different. You don't know them, however because they do this or that you think you know them, and thus you think you are an expert on them and that is what I hate. Prejudice, even Socrates says, is the hardest thing to beat. How do you unteach a dog to do a trick? Impossible? No, difficult? Yes. However, the process is not a quick one. It requires a long time, and open minds.