What Would Socrates Ask?

By Peter Lloyd

You don’t know something, so I’m going to tell you. Believe me. It’s true. When you learn what I have to tell you, you’ll know something that I know. You still won’t know as much as I do, but at least you’ll know a little more.

Sorry, that opening paragraph was written tongue-in-cheek to illustrate a point. It’s all wrong in it’s approach to sharing information. Tell me you didn’t bristle at least a little reading it. You and most people, especially adults, have Pride.

When you announce a fact, you also remind your audience that they don’t know it, or that you assume they don’t know it. But if you ask a question that starts a person thinking toward the direction of the fact, they will often find it on their own and revel in the joy of learning.

Socratic Method
Once again, the opposite of the ordinary and obvious delivers innovation. The practice of asking questions to make your point or to persuade others over to your side in a debate, you might call “creative telling.” If only because, like creatively, it rebels against the common practice of delivering facts like commodities.

Socrates, the man known for pronouncing “I only know that I know nothing,” introduced Elenchos, sometimes called the dialectic method of inquiry. That is, asking questions rather than delivering facts in order to lead someone to information, or to understanding what they don’t know, by answering the questions.

Additionally the questioner learns the other person’s underlying beliefs and what they actually know or don’t know. This elimination process is not unlike the scientific method. The Socratic Method also finds and removes error and contradiction.

Here’s a simplified, step-by-step version of the Socratic Method:

Someone makes a point, and you think the opposite is true
Ask questions that will draw answers that invalidate their point
Show them that their answers contradict their original point
Demonstrate how the contradictions negate their point and validate yours

Want to enjoy more success persuading people to your point of view, consider the Socratic Method. Just as you can catch more flies with honey, you can teach more effectively by asking questions rather than spouting off facts. Just one caveat—the method finds the truth. So if your point of view is wrong, you’ll be the one persuaded.

Peter Lloyd spent two years studying to be a Franciscan priest, drove taxicabs and school buses, ran a picture framing gallery, worked on a farm, was a warehouseman, a US Census enumerator, and even took on a few odd jobs.

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