It was said that Socrates was the “Wisest Man” in the world. Actually, Socrates was not that smart. If he had been smart, he would have realized that teaching people to question authority was not such a good idea. Socrates was the epitome of Greek philosophy. He was born in 470 BCE and died in 399 BCE at the age of 71. He died or rather was executed by taking the poison hemlock after being found guilty of “corrupting” the youth of Athens. Corrupting should be thought of as a euphemism for actually getting the youth to “think for themselves.” A characteristic no more desired two thousand and five hundred years ago than it is today. (See my blog “Are Americans Brainwashed.”)
Hundreds of years later and schools are still not able to teach critical thinking skills to students. I have been in education for over 45 years and I can testify to fact that rote learning is valued ten times more than critical thinking in any school in America. True, there are many educators who will tell you how important critical thinking skills are. However, when push comes to shove standardized tests, SAT tests, ACT tests, GRE tests, GMAT tests, LSAT tests, MCAT tests, diploma requirements and graduation exams all demand facts and data. The quest for the holy grail of critical thinking goes down the toilet.
Socrates might not have actually been the smartest man or even the smartest philosopher, but he certainly knew the value of critical thinking. The Socratic Method is still widely revered as perhaps the best method for teaching critical thinking. Socrates did not leave a large body of writings or principles or admonitions for success and greatness. Socrates simply left us the art of investigating or discussing the truth of opinions, also known as a dialectic. The Socratic method accomplished this by questioning everything. Wikipedia defines the method as follows:
“The Socratic method (also known as method of Elenchus, elenctic method, or Socratic debate), is a form of cooperative argumentative dialogue between individuals, based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to draw out ideas and underlying presuppositions.” —- Wikipedia
If I am sounding critical of Socrates, this is not my intent. If any man in history was my hero, it would be Socrates. Not only did Socrates value critical thinking and actually practice it with his pupils, but he had the audacity and courage to stick to his guns right up to the end. To understand the integrity of the man, you must read and understand his Defense Speech given at his trial.
The Trial of Socrates and His Defense Speech:
The fathers of Athens and the Athenian leaders had finally had enough of Socrates. Socrates had created many enemies along the way. Other philosophers resented his methods and his denigration of their supposed wisdom. Prominent leaders thought he challenged democracy because Socrates believed that democratic decision making did not always result in the best decisions. When it came to their children questioning them and their authority, this was the final straw.
Socrates was hauled into an Athenian court and charged with two counts. Corrupting the youth of Athens and impious acts. His impious acts involved questioning the Greek gods. The Athenians did not have a strict separation of church and state. Socrates really pissed them off by failing to respect their gods. Even today, such disrespect will get you killed in many countries across the globe.
Now of course, no one has an exact transcript of Socrates trial. It has also been generally acknowledged that despite Socrates being found guilty by five hundred Athenian jurors of both charges and sentenced to death, they were willing to let him escape to another country or face a voluntary exile. This is where it gets really interesting and where you see the courage and integrity of Socrates. His speech is a defense of everything Socrates finds important in life including his self-respect.
Most of what we know about Socrates and his Defense Speech is found in the following documents:
“Primary-source accounts of the trial and execution of Socrates are the Apology of Socrates by Plato and the Apology of Socrates to the Jury by Xenophon of Athens, who had been his student; contemporary interpretations include The Trial of Socrates (1988) by the journalist I. F. Stone, and Why Socrates Died: Dispelling the Myths (2009) by the Classics scholar Robin Waterfield.” —- Wikipedia
I highly recommend the “Apology of Socrates” by Plato and “The Trial of Socrates” by I.F. Stone. The following speech excerpts are taken from “The Apology” by Plato. The Translation is by Benjamin Jowett.
“Someone will say: And are you not ashamed, Socrates, of a course of life which is likely to bring you to an untimely end? To him I may fairly answer: There you are mistaken: a man who is good for anything ought not to calculate the chance of living or dying; he ought only to consider whether in doing anything he is doing right or wrong – acting the part of a good man or of a bad.”
Socrates is declaring that virtue in life comes not from living or dying but from doing what you think is right or wrong. Virtue does not come from living a long life but from living a good life. If you suffer ill consequences from doing the right thing, it should not matter. Your conscience is more important than your body. Imagine for a second if the US Congress was full of men and women who adhered to this belief.
“They in their fear (of death) apprehend to be the greatest evil, may not be the greatest good. Is there not here conceit of knowledge, which is a disgraceful sort of ignorance? And this is the point in which, as I think, I am superior to men in general, and in which I might perhaps fancy myself wiser than other men, – that whereas I know but little of the world below, I do not suppose that I know: but I do know that injustice and disobedience to a better, whether God or man, is evil and dishonorable, and I will never fear or avoid a possible good rather than a certain evil.”
Years before Caesar noted that “Cowards die many deaths and heroes die only once”, Socrates was admonishing the Athenians to not fear death but to fear ignorance and to fear a hubris that was overly proud of knowledge and wisdom. Socrates asserted that if he was wise, it was because he did not try to act as though the knew everything. He was humble in the face of his own ignorance of the world.
Consider today the experts that surround us and try to act like they are miniature gods. Doctors, lawyers, engineers, military planners, intelligence experts and of course academicians all like to parade their wisdom and knowledge that in actuality is far surpassed by what they do not know. Nevertheless, advice is rendered, fees collected and the sheep among us march passively towards a perhaps ignominious fate buoyed by a firm belief in whatever nostrum has been sold to them.
“O my friend, why do you who are a citizen of the great and mighty and wise city of Athens, care so much about laying up the greatest amount of money and honor and reputation, and so little about wisdom and truth and the greatest improvement of the soul, which you never regard or heed at all? Are you not ashamed of this?”
Socrates knew that money, honor, and fame often had little to do with wisdom and truth and the improvement of the soul. Several centuries later, and we have a populace that has elected a leader because many of the voters believed that “A rich man was a wise man.” Socrates knew this was false and so has every major prophet quoted in both the Old Testament and the New Testament and every holy book every written in history from the Hindu Vedas to the writings of Abdu’l-Bahá.
“He who hath knowledge and power will rather seek out the glory of heaven, and spiritual distinction, and the life that dieth not. And such a one longeth to approach the sacred Threshold of God; for in the tavern of this swiftly-passing world the man of God will not lie drunken, nor will he even for a moment take his ease, nor stain himself with any fondness for this earthly life.” — Abdu’l-Bahá
It is amazing to me that the greatest works in history all tell us the same thing. We must seek out the truth. We must live a virtuous and moral life. We must take success with a grain of salt. We must not be seduced by greed and fame. We must not judge others by how much they own or do not own. Jesus said we must feed the hungry and take care of the sick. Major religions all over the world are predicated on these basic ideas. Yet, everywhere we look, we see adherents to these same religions practicing the very opposite of what their prophets have espoused.
“If this was the condition on which you let me go, I should reply: Men of Athens, I honor and love you; but I shall obey God rather than you, and while I have life and strength I shall never cease from the practice and teaching of philosophy.”
Socrates was more afraid of being a hypocrite than he was of dying. He would not forfeit his integrity for his life. Contrast that with the cowards and sycophants we see every day in the news, on TV, in the Congress and in the White House willing to forfeit their soul and anything they say they believe in to support lies, misinformation, disinformation and immoral intrigues that surpass anything imaginable. People with more money than they can ever spend but still willing to accept bribes for power and position and more money rather than look for the truth or support a goal of knowledge driven leadership.
Socrates did not leave Athens even when his supporters offered to spirit him away. Socrates saw such flight as cowardice and a repudiation of everything he believed in. Socrates was a martyr to integrity. Fame for Socrates was not a fifteen-minute exercise in tweeting or attacking someone with less power than he had. Socrates attacked the very heart and soul of all evil. He attacked ignorance and offered a search for truth instead.
France is in chaos. Heads are rolling faster than you can say “jack rabbit.” No one knows whose head will be on the guillotine next. In the middle of this pandemonium, the Monarchs surrounding France decide to put a stop to the changes going on in France. They plan to reestablish the French royalty and bring things back to where they were. European royalty marshal their armies to attack France. In steps Napoleon. A young French solider with extraordinary military skills. Napoleon galvanizes the French People and singing the Marseillaise they fight back and defeat all of the opposing enemies. The Following is an excerpt from a speech given by Napoleon to his army in Italy delivered on May 15, 1796:
Did you know that if I am in Wisconsin this summer, I will migrate down to southern Mexico and northern Panama each winter? I go by myself because hummingbirds tend to be loners. No flocks or “birds of a feather” for us. I enjoy the trip down each year by myself. It takes me about a week to reach my final destination area. The most remarkable part of my voyage is crossing the Gulf of Mexico. I will fly non-stop up to 500 miles to reach Central America. It takes approximately 18-22 hours to complete my solitary flight. I do this each year of my life. I think even Charles Lindbergh would be impressed with my journey.
Now I know you are all wondering about my sex life. I have observed that this is an especially important part of a human being’s life. So, you are probably asking how often does a hummingbird have sex and how many kids do we have in our short lives. I probably find a female about three or four times a year to mate with. I spend a great deal of time trying to impress a suitable mate. I make the Blue Angels look like novices with the aerobatics I perform to attract a female of my species. Compared to the time spent attracting a female, our mating goes pretty rapidly. In about 4 seconds we are both done. I have heard that some human males are even faster.
Now as far as friends and enemies go, I do not have much of either one. There is good and bad in this. Humans have many friends and they tend to come and go like the weather. I don’t have to deal with “fair weather” friends because I never make any friends. If I miss out on the companionship, it never bothers me.
Now we come to the biggest and most important part of my day. Since I expend so much energy just moving and staying alive, I have an enormous appetite. I love to eat. My life is one constant search for food. My favorite meals are nectar and insects. Because of my high metabolism, I must eat all day long just to survive. I consume about half my body weight in bugs and nectar each day. To do this I must feed about every 10-15 minutes and visit 1,000-2,000 flowers throughout the day. I will eat a few dozen to several hundred or even a thousand or more insects in one day, depending on the availability of insects, the type of insects, and my dietary needs. Imagine a 200-pound human eating about every 15 minutes a day and consuming 100 lbs. a day of meat. Judging by some of the humans I see, I think some have this as a goal. It might work for them if they were as energetic as I am, but this seldom seems to be the case with humans.
I was born on October 14, 1973 in Fayetteville, North Carolina. I grew up in Houston Texas. I was always big for my age and I loved sports where I excelled. I also loved music and was part of a hip-hop group called “Screwed Up Click”. My stage name was “Big Floyd.” I was or thought I was headed for greatness. Somehow though greatness never came. I did not make any major league teams and I never got any big breaks on the music scene. Like many young Black men with no foreseeable future, I stumbled into drugs.
I teach part-time as a substitute teacher in two high schools in Casa Grande, Arizona. Both public schools have a large minority population of Latino’s, African Americans, and Native Americans. I talk to many of these students when they are seniors about what their plans are after they graduate. Many of them remind me of myself when I graduated high school. I had no clue about what I could do or be. My father wanted me to become a postman like he was, and my mother did not really have any idea or inclinations about careers. I looked around and in 1964, thought “Well I will join the military and see what happens.” I had no dreams or goals for my future. I had no role models when I was growing up.
The father decided he would join his son on the donkey. As they passed through the next village, people shouted “Look at that. Two people on one donkey. How cruel and mean.’’ The father deliberated and made the following decision. He and his son came down off the donkey and picked the donkey up. They carried the donkey all the way to their final destination and as they entered the village, they heard uproarious laughter and saw everyone in the market place pointing at them and saying “Have you ever seen two more stupid people in your life. They are carrying a donkey that could be carrying them.”
Perhaps the most famous example is in the spiritual arena. Twelve men chosen somewhat randomly hitched their wagons to a shooting star and achieved fame and glory far beyond anything they could have dreamed of. Today we remember the shooting star and his 12 apostles. Each of the apostles later went on to their own fame and glory spreading the word of their lord and master. Sometimes, it is the shooting star that gets forgotten but, in this case, through the efforts of his 12 followers, the name of Jesus Christ rings throughout the centuries in every corner of the globe.
Once, as a new employee, I was attending my first department meeting with my co-workers and supervisor. I deemed it prudent to keep my mouth shut and observe. At the end of the meeting, my supervisor turned to me and noted, “Well, John, you haven’t said a word. What do you think? Give me your honest opinion.” I took her at her word and gave her my honest uncensored opinion. Big mistake, as I am sure you knew. Turns out my boss only liked “Honest Opinions” when they agreed with her opinions. A good mentor would have warned me of this peril before I put my foot in my mouth.
me by giving me support and stimulation to be creative. I was thinking back over the years that I have been writing. My first paid article was in 1983. It was published in a San Francisco Men’s Journal. My piece was called “The Three Types of Male Intimacy.” I was paid about 25 dollars. It was not much but it felt like a start. I have since published about 40 journal articles, three books and over 600 blogs. It is a good thing that I never quit my day job since I could barely pay my monthly entertainment bill with the proceeds from my writing.
“I do not know what writing awaits me,
A version of this myth is the “Too big too fail idea” widely heard during the “Great Recession” and now during the Coronavirus epidemic. General Motors was one of the first giant corporations in America and even as late as 2019, it was ranked 13th on the Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue. In 1952 during his nomination hearing for Secretary of Defense, Charles Wilson (former CEO of General Motors) was asked if he could make a decision as Secretary of Defense that ran contrary to the interests of his former company. He replied with the now infamous remark YES but that he could not conceive of such a situation: “because for years I thought what was good for our country was good for General Motors, and vice versa.” — 
The foregoing belief in the common interests that corporations shared with America came to epitomize the ideology of Corporate America. American corporations then used the media and astute public relations to convince the majority of US citizens that they are indispensable, and that the welfare of the average person depended on the welfare of the corporation. To put it another way, the interests of a giant corporation are claimed to be synonymous with the interests of the average person. “What is good for America’s Corporations is good for You.” “What is good for Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Exxon, Facebook and Pfizer is good for you.”
When a company makes and sells a product, it is no longer responsible for the effects of that product on either the buyer or the environment. Unless evidence can be shown that somehow the corporation either lied or had some kind of criminal intent in the sales process, the consumer and society are responsible for the negative effects that a product or service might have. For instance, oil companies sell gasoline but are not responsible for the effects of polluting the atmosphere by burning gasoline. Another example is the packaging that many companies use for their products. Amazon is notorious for over boxing even the smallest products. The boxes must then be thrown away or recycled in a landfill. However, the cost of this recycling is not born by Amazon but ultimately by the taxpayer who must pay for the recycling through taxes or direct payments. Meanwhile, Amazon makes a great profit by being able to take advantage of tax loopholes and escaping any costs. These costs are called in economic terms: “Externalities.”
Dr. Deming wrote reams about the failure of management to balance what he called the “Problems of Today” with the “Problems of Tomorrow.” I would typically hear when beginning a consulting engagement numerous reasons why “it could not be done.” One of the most common excuses was expressed colloquially as “We are up to our ass in alligators.” Another excuse was “We have too many fires to put out.” I was fond of reciting Dr. Deming’s comment that, “Putting out fires is not improvement. Finding a point out of control, finding the special cause and removing it, is only putting the process back to where it was in the first place. It is not improvement of the process.” — Out of the Crisis, W. E. Deming
I have sat in many boardrooms for many planning meetings, and seldom did I ever hear an executive worrying about the environment or the hidden costs of externalities. The oft assumed legal mandate of a corporation is to make a profit. However, corporate law states that a company does not have to pursue profit maximization at all costs. This is idealistic though since the tendency in the marketplace and short-term thinking push corporations to ignore other considerations and pursue profits at all costs. It is also much easier to measure profits than it is to measure a “good” to the environment or a “good” to the social system. Thus, generally profits will trump other considerations in running an effective business.
As years have gone by, I have learned from the sages (who profess to know these things) that “being” is more important than “doing” in terms of defining who we really are. In other words, just because I work as a management consultant or educator, that job title does not describe the real me. The real me exists apart from what I do to make a living or to earn a paycheck. I discovered that It would take an epic journey of soul searching to find my real being, the real me. Ever since I learned that I needed such a quest to know my true inner self, I have been struggling to find out who I really am. I am now 73 years old and I am still wrestling with this question.
Socrates said that “The unexamined life is not worth living.” These words were reportedly spoken at his trial for corrupting the youth of Athens. Socrates believed that living a life where you unthinkingly obey the rules of society and never stop to examine what you actually want out of life is not worth living. I believe that Socrates was thinking too much. It is relatively easy to know what one wants out of life. I want happiness, money, good health, good love, good sex, good food, interesting friends, a challenging and meaningful job and a perhaps a few exceptional children or two to round things out. I am not sure what else I would want if I delved into the issue any deeper.
On the other hand, what if we are not faced with a coin here but with a Mobius Strip. So there are not two sides but only one side. Unlike a two-sided coin, there is no division in a Mobius Strip. This is more of an Eastern perspective on life. Thus, being rolls into doing without any breaks and doing rolls back into being. Life is simply be-do-be-do-be-do. If this is what life is really about, then trying to separate the two ideas is simply impossible. When I do, I am being and when I am being, I am doing.
Aging Capriciously 