#SOCRATES ROCKS!!!

#SOCRATES ROCKS!!!

When I got home, I saw my brother reading pile of books in his room. I was curious and wondered what it is all about and since my brother seldom stays at home because he is studying in seminary, I took the chance to bond with him and chat for awhile. He was studying Philosophy stuff and I said it was a boring course. I ask him what’s with the Philosophy thing, what makes him interested on it and then he sort of lectured, told stories of different philosophers. The funny thing, it made me interested and inspired with one of the Philosopher that he shared and somehow our family relates. We all know Socrates right? The teacher of Plato. He is a Greek Athenian Philosopher. He is renowned for his contribution to the field of ethics.

The whole story of the life of Socrates was very inspiring. I cannot imagine that he has the guts to face his tribunal without any fear. He can argue with so much confidence that every word he utters gives so much clarity that he is innocent. Though it is clear that he is telling the truth he was still convicted to the crime that he didn’t commit. Sometimes even unto this present time, the judicial process has same pattern as what had happened to Socrates. Those who are influential can always manipulate the truth. This is a sad reality that we are facing, a reality that ever since we are dealing with, that truth is nothing but been chained to those with great power.

I really thank Socrates for making me aware of these things. Socrates is truly wise. This struck me most. I believe that the oracle never made a mistake for saying that Socrates is the wisest man. Even to my personal judgment truly he is wise. The fact is that being wise is not necessarily means that you know anything. It doesn’t mean if you are more knowledgeable than other, it makes you wise. I believe it is more on being knowledgeable of your incapacities, being knowledgeable of your imperfections, accepting ones incompleteness and through which you are striving to do better.

This kind of attitude, probably at the end will be much more successful than those who are learned specifically to those who are educated but don’t know to level off. It is better to accept your incapacities, your failures and your weaknesses because by doing so you are learning more. Thus it is really true to say learn from your mistakes. A wise man do accept what he doesn’t know, but doesn’t mean he will stagnate to what he only knows, rather, he will make every effort to know what he doesn’t know. Learning doesn’t stop it will always continue to flow out while we live. We are all the same, in terms of learning, no one is greater than the other only that he learns ahead. This is the very reason that if ever my parents ask me who is smarter in our class. I always say in reply that each one of us has its own brightness. Nobody is to be labeled as smart, average and dumb. He may not be excellent this time, but soon he will be. Learning is a process it is not something that we can acquire instantly. I suppose the problem sometimes is with those whose way of thinking are closed or boxed in to their time. This I refer to those people who assume that the present generations are should be more learned because of the information flow or because of the fast and easy access of information. They expect that present generation people promptly know everything. They sometimes compare their generation to our generation. Probably these people might have generation envy. They always emphasize that we live in an instant world and perhaps these is the cause why we only know less. I will certainly disagree to this line of thinking. They have no rights to insult that today’s generation are taught by the world to be lazy because of technology. True may it be for some, to those who belong to an old life-style the problems is theirs not because of the advancement of technology they cannot accept a generation shift or maybe they feel that they were left behind because of the paradigm shift.

At the end this is also related to what Socrates have once told us that can also be the key to be aware and accept our incompleteness, “unexamined life is not worth living.” Awareness of what you are doing can be a good start of being a better person. Checking our attitude, our strengths and weaknesses helps us to be sensitive and be a neighbor to others.