Socrates

Socrates

The Athenian who never wrote a word, only asked questions, until the city sentenced him to death for them.

470 BC–399 BC · Wikipedia

Mentioned in

  1. In praise of asking, part two

    Why should a simple question cost so much? A nine-year-old tested a healing method with a towel and a piece of cardboard, a doctor drank a glass of bacteria, and Socrates drank the hemlock; each price depended on the certainty the question shook.

  2. In praise of asking, part one

    Answers got cheap, so where does a good question come from? The story starts with a parrot asking “What’s that?” in front of a mirror, and goes on to silent classrooms and an AI that never needs anything.