As for me, all I know is that I know nothing.

As for me, all I know is that I know nothing. – Socrates

When was the last time you challenged your assumptions? If everyone went to college, who would build offices & homes? Who'd want a college loan for a degree they won't use? Are these not also good, honest jobs with good pay?

What does that mean?
This is probably one of the most famous quotes in all the world, as it was the one that caused Socrates to be declared by the Oracle at Delphi as the wisest man in the world.  In a classical sense, it means that pretty much everything we “know” is based on one or more assumptions.

How do you know that you are alive?  How do you know that the sky is blue?  The ancient philosophers, and Socrates in particular, could ask some very pointed questions.  You give and answer, and they question the foundation of your answer.

You say that the sky is blue because that’s the color scattered by oxygen & nitrogen molecules in the atmosphere (see Rayleigh Scattering).  Why is that?  How is it?  Who is Rayleigh?  What do you have to back that up?  Where did you hear this?  When might it be otherwise?  When you give an answer to these questions, the probing begins anew.

Why is knowledge important?
Well, what DO you know?  Socrates used this method extensively to tear down falsehoods and urban myths, such as they existed back then.  He could be called the first Myth-Buster, as it were.  It quickly becomes apparent that when you are working to such high and exacting standards as Socrates used, we truly KNOW very little.  Almost everything begins with an assumption.

Take your monitor.  CRT or LED, both rely on electricity.  Electrons are sub-atomic particles (there’s a oxymoron for you – atom is a Greek word, see the first definition here), but those are made of quantum particles, which very few people even claim to understand.  So we make the assumption that electricity works, and ignore the messy details that underpin the workings of the devices.

On the flip side, we do want to challenge assumptions from time to time.  Do you REALLY need to go to college to make a decent living?  Socrates might ask who would build our houses if everyone went to college.  Would society function well if everyone had a degree?  After you answer that question, ask a follow up question that challenges your answer: Who, How, What, Why, When or Where.  It can be quite a mental workout.

Continuing on the educational theme, many people who own their own businesses don’t have degrees, yet many of them are able to do quite well for themselves.  As for myself, I have a college degree, but I have never used it in the workplace.  Instead, I make my living doing what started as a hobby in high-school.  Go figure.

In an effort to stir up a little controversy, we’ll hit one more: Is Global Warming “settled science”, as some claim?  How many of you are old enough to remember the Global Cooling scare in the early 1970’s?  How would you, as a layman know if one viewpoint has more merit than the other?  Do you have access to the leading Scientists, both pro and con?

Even if you did, would you know how to weigh their results without knowing and understanding the details of their observations and experiments?  What DO you actually KNOW?  At some point, you have to make some assumptions and then base your decision as to the correctness of one theory over the other on those assumptions.  Until you challenge your assumptions, your belief, your knowledge, will remain unchanged.

Where can I apply this in my life?
Other than being the first class irritant, and the person voted least likely to be invited to the next party, the classical version of this really doesn’t apply directly to your life.  OK, so we won’t try to be Socrates (things didn’t end well for him, so that’s another reason to not go that route).  However there are things that you “know” that should be questioned.

Never underestimate the power of a question.  What assumptions have you made about your life?  How many of them limit yourself?  Limit your future?  Limit the possibilities?  Some (myself included) have even gone so far as to question the value of the continuation of existence (I chose to continue to exist, in case you hadn’t guessed).

Others question their faith, what they believe in, and how they express their belief.  Some have come to the conclusion they’ve been right all along, others change things around.  Some wonder if God has left them, or if they have left God.  Others wonder if Dog really exists (a little dyslexic humor there – very little).

Do you want to Question Authority?  How about the Status Quo?  Do you want to question why you do the things you do every morning (perhaps to find out if there’s a better way)?  Do you want to question how you spend your time, your money or your attention?

Why do you do the things you do?  What do you get in return for what you do?  How well is it working for you?  Who do you think would do the same things you do, and who would do them differently?  When would it be appropriate to do these things, or is it now inappropriate to do them?  Where would you have to be for these things to be the proper things to do?

Some of these questions apply to everything from the fast food burger you had for lunch to the haircut that hasn’t changed since high-school (guilty!).  As Socrates also stated: “The unexamined life is not worth living.”  So examine yours today.  If you’re sure you really exist, that is.

From: Twitter, @AncientProverbs
confirmed at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/s/socrates378498.html
Photo by Michel Filion