Socrates here and now

When we think of Socrates and what he has achieved, has realized and thought, it seems to be so far away, he seems to be the star of the philosophical firmament, at least so they tell us, but the light of his teaching is taking so long to teach us, 25 centuries or so, even the photons must get weary after some time. He was some crazy dude probably, all he knew was that he knew nothing. He is surely not relevant in this age of knowledge.

When the light from some distant sun is reaching us, it is reaching us here and now. So Socrates and his ignorance, or his wisdom, is to be realized in this moment.

If what I've read in the books is right, his pupil Plato understood that in a very tragically dualistic way: All I know is that I can know nothing if I stay in the cave, I have to get out, to the world of ideas, if I want to grasp true knowledge. I am gasping for true air, take me in, you world of ideas!

And apparently the skeptics later interpreted him in an even crazier sense : we can not know anything. The imagery is that of the philosopher not helping out the helpless chap who's fallen into the well, because he cannot get a guarantee of this guy's existence: he might be some demon in disguise for all he knows.

Let us try to understand this innocent statement in a different way: in the context of the past, the others. The sophists are claiming to teach people knowledge, ways of the world, and people are just accepting what others are spoon-feeding them. The sophists, the gurus, the teachers are these others, teaching, enlightening us, we can just sit and do nothing, let's enjoy the ride.

Socrates is saying that to realize truth, his 'one god' in the 'Apology', we have to let go of such gurus, such teachings. We have to think for ourselves, we cannot accept someone else's clothes, or his ideas. We have to be radical. His whole teaching, his methodology, his questioning, was and is testament to this radicalism.

When the Buddha says, 'highest teaching is not the highest teaching', he's warning us of the same danger. There is no fame or gain in the pursuit of knowledge, so let us be entirely honest with ourselves.