Tuesday Letter #30 - Socrates is Kind of a D*ck
Hey, Happy Tuesday!
I have been consistently sending a newsletter each week in 2022, which is good. But every single letter I send I would get at least one unsubscribe. I really hope that doesn't happen this week 😆 Although if it does, that means I have a higher percentage of people who listen to me.
Anyway, with that rant out of the way, let's get to the letter. I hope you enjoy it.
Quote of the week
The use of gentleness and friendliness is demonstrated day after day by people who have learned that a drop of honey catches more flies than a gallon of gall. (Location 2367)
Remember what Lincoln said: “A drop of honey catches more flies than a gallon of gall.” (Location 2381)
Lincoln is saying that it pays to be nice with enemies as that will lure them in and force them to work with you. Whereas acting in bad faith will likely get you nowhere.
Socrates is kind of a Dick
✅ I have finished reading Book I of Plato's Republic and have some thoughts.
👍 First of all, I will say that I have thoroughly enjoyed it. Plato's writing is very clear, very understandable, and approachable. It is very interesting to observe how Socrates thinks and argues.
📜 The first book of the Republic is about the definition of Justice. Socrates is holding a conversation with two gentlemen who have a differing opinion of what justice is. You can clearly see the Socratic Method in action. Sometimes the arguments that he proposes are interesting, sometimes they don't make sense.
🍆 So, why do I say that Socrates is kind of a dick? Here is why. Socrates always says that he knows nothing and instead he always asks. He always wants to get answers from others. This is his way of staying humble and continuing his learning journey, which is completely fine, good even. However, his questions are not just inquiring questions. Socrates asks questions that lead his "opponent" to a certain conclusion, the one that Socrates wants. So, in reality, Socrates does have a point, he does have an opinion, but he chooses not to make it a statement, but "tricks" his opponent to get to the same conclusion that he has in his head. Clearly, you need to have great intellect and be a great thinker to be able to do that, but again, this isn't "nicest" behavior.
❓ What do you think? Does my thinking make sense here? Or would you disagree with me?
Person of the Week
I have been going through Michael's course on "Hitting the Front Page of Hacker News". Apart from that Michael writes killer guides on various topics. If you don't know who him, I strongly recommend checking him out.
mtlynch (his nickname) runs a bunch of cool projects like is it keto? and TinyPilot.