[Socrates] introduced the idea that individuals could not be intelligent on their own, that they needed someone else to stimulate them. ... His brilliant idea was that if two unsure individuals were put together, they could achieve what they could not do separately: they could discover the truth, their own truth, for themselves.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Collective inquiry allows individuals to discover truths they cannot find alone.
- In plain terms
- Two unsure people together can find truth that neither could alone.
- What can you take from it?
- Use dialogue with others to find truth.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Who helps you see what you miss alone?
Another view
Groupthink can sometimes obscure truth.
More from Theodore Zeldin
No amount of status or reward will compensate for your inadequacy as a human being.
Permalink to quote #12 Technology does not automatically improve conversation, communication or behaviour.
Permalink to quote #14 It's up to us to decide on the kind of conversations we have. The way we talk at the office or factory shapes the work we do; it's not just machines which forc…
Permalink to quote #11
Related quotes
However unwillingly a person who has a strong opinion may admit the possibility that his opinion may be false, he ought to be moved by the consideration that, …
John Stuart MillJohn Stuart Mill quote #39 But to impose is not To discover. To discover an order as of A season, to discover summer and know it, To discover winter and know it well, to find Not to impo…
Wallace StevensWallace Stevens quote #163 The criterion which we use to test the genuineness of apparent statements of fact is the criterion of verifiability. We say that a sentence is factually signif…
Alfred AyerAlfred Ayer quote #1