It was Socrates who claimed that he was the wisest man in Athens because he knew that he knew nothing at all.
When I first found this out, it was a real lighbulb moment. Because ever since I was a child, I have felt just like Socrates - completely ignorant. I felt it when I was in primary school, I felt it after I completed a degree at the London School of Economics and I feel it now.
But at the same time, I was puzzled. How could it be wise to know nothing at all? What possible use is it to anyone? If everyone felt as hopelessly denuded of beliefs as I was, nothing would ever happen in the world.
Then again, the world seems to operate on different principles to the ones Socrates was talking about. The world demands decisiveness, action, belief, conviction. This are the qualities that are admired in businessmen, in politicians, in managers - in just about every field of endeavour.
So what on earth was Socrates talking about? Apart from anything else, I obviously DO know stuff. Everyone does. I know facts. I know that Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933, that he had a silly moustache, that cheese is made of milk, that water boils at 100 degrees celsius. I know what my name is and that I grew up in West London, and so on and so on.
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