Socrates' Way by Ronald Gross

Author:Ronald Gross
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group US

For the top choice each day, identify the technique of deception or distortion being used. (It’s going to be a hard call!) Share your examples with friends and colleagues, and invite their comments and observations.

10. Craft a sound opinion on a current issue.

In this exercise, you’ll do what Socrates did on those 364 days each year when his conversations in the agora did not reach the level that warranted being reported as one of the dialogues! On those days, he listened. Often, he professed ignorance and positioned himself as “seeking to learn from those who know more than I do.” (This was one of the expressions of his famed Socratic irony.)

He identified in his own mind the questions and issues that needed clarification. He considered how those issues might best be formulated for profitable discussion. He asked questions to enrich and deepen his understanding. The reason Socrates did all this preparatory work is that it was immensely rewarding. It sharpened his mind, and it enabled him to formulate, discuss, and resolve issues.

Critical thinking is not merely a negative activity. Its ultimate purpose is to cut through the crap and develop sound opinions that impel intelligent, effective action.

In this exercise, you will formulate your own well-tested viewpoint on a current issue. It will be an issue that is being widely discussed this week or month, so that you will have plenty of opportunities to use these techniques in conversations with friends and colleagues.

The entire process will take roughly two weeks, but, like Socrates, you will be learning in a rewarding way throughout the process. And by the end, you will have formulated your own position in a way you may never have done before.

The difference will be that you will not be following the pattern that most of us fall into in discussing such current issues. We choose a position prematurely, then defend it vigorously rather than benefiting from really hearing the opinions of others. Rather, you will be quietly pursuing another strategy, one that is likely to win you fresh recognition as a good conversationalist, as well as upgrade your thinking.

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