Socrates: The Man, the Myth, the Hemlocked

From Ancient Athens to the Digital Age: The Timeless Voice of Free Thought

Socrates using a smart phone

Socrates was quite the character, a real stand-out in ancient Athens. While everyone else was busy paying homage to the Greek gods, this maverick was busy inventing his own method of critical thinking, famously known as the Socratic Method. But here's the thing: Socrates was a bit of a slacker in the writing department. He didn't pen down a single word himself, at least not that we know of. Instead, he convinced this poor sap Plato to do all the scrawling. Our old chap Socrates was a delegatorian, that's for sure!

But let's give credit where it's due. Socrates was pretty influential. Elusive, sure, but influential. Here I am, rambling about the guy nearly two and a half millennia after he bit the dust, after a refreshing beverage (more on that later).

Now, why am I rambling about Socrates, you ask? Well, I reckon Socrates was the first chap to get the chop for what we'd call free speech or free expression today. He probably didn't see it coming in those terms, and to be fair, he couldn't posthumously tweet his thoughts through his pal Plato.

The Trial of the Century (Well, the Millennium, Let's Be Honest)

So, what got Socrates in hot water? He had this habit of asking uncomfortable questions, the kind that makes you squirm in your seat. The bigwigs of Athens didn’t like that one bit. They accused him of corrupting the youth and disrespecting the gods – serious stuff back then.

The trial was something else. Imagine this: Socrates standing there, defiant, in a room full of frowning judges. He could have taken the easy way out, said a few mea culpas, and maybe gone on a nice, long vacation to some Aegean island. But no, Socrates was stubborn. He stood by his words, basically telling the jury, "I’ll keep doing my thing, if it's all the same to you. And thanks for all the fish.". Okay, I may have taken some literary liberty, Plato was great at his job.

Hemlock and Afterthoughts

We all know how the story ends, or you're about to. Hemlock, a not-so-tasty cocktail, was his final drink (remember the refreshing beverage from earlier?). But here’s the kicker: in gulping down that poison, Socrates turned from just another philosopher into a legend, a martyr for the cause of free thought and expression. Today, we call that the Streisand Effect, I don't remember exactly why but that's the power of it! The power is in the principle, and Socrates was a very principled man as we're discovering in this post.

Socrates in the 21st Century: A Ghostly Blogger

Now, let's play a little game of historical what-if. Imagine Socrates in our world today. He'd probably be a blogger, or maybe a podcaster, definitely stirring the pot. I can picture him getting a kick out of social media, throwing out tweets like, "Is true knowledge knowing that you know nothing? #DeepThoughts #Philosophy.". Remember that banging quote by Will Smith's son? Yeah I don't either I was just going to use it as a counterpoint.

But then, I wonder what he'd make of our modern conundrum with free speech. Legislation here, censorship there, it's a minefield. Socrates might look at all this and say, "Didn’t I drink poison for this?"

Closing Thoughts: The Socratic Method Goes Digital

So here's to Socrates, the ancient world’s most controversial free thinker. In a way, he set the stage for all the debates we're having now about what can or can't be said. His legacy? It's the idea that questioning, probing, and challenging is the essence of a vibrant society.

Maybe next time you're scrolling through your feed and see a post that makes you go "Hmm," take a moment to think, "What would Socrates say?" Chances are, he'd have a question rather than an answer.