A Little Story That Will Make You 🧠 Wiser
Nugget from Socrates
Hey Friend!
The insight I picked today comes from Socrates, narrated by Robert Greene on his book The 50th Law.
It’s a short but powerful story to help us become wiser!
👤 Doers
💡Nugget
🟠 Robert Greene:
One day it came to the attention of the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates that the oracle at Delphi had pronounced him the wisest man in the world.
This baffled the philosopher—he did not think himself worthy of such a decree. It made him uncomfortable.
He decided to simply go around Athens and find a person who was wiser than he—that should be easy and it would disprove the oracle.
He engaged in many discussions with politicians, poets, craftsmen, and fellow philosophers.
He began to realize that the oracle was right.
All the people he talked to had such a certainty about things, venturing solid opinions about matters of which they had no experience; they were full of so much air. If you questioned them at all, they could not really defend their opinions, which seemed based on something they had decided years earlier.
His superiority, he realized, was that he knew that he knew nothing. This left his mind open to experiencing things as they are, the source of all knowledge.
This same reflection is probably what drove Charles Bukowski to utter the famous line:
"The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence."💭 Reflections
Here’s a collection of quotes from remarkable individuals that helps me become more enthusiastic on finding the most accurate ideas / mental models — through this process of rigorous thinking and uncertainty:
“Certainty is the place where questions go to die.”
― Dee Hock (Founder of Visa)
"I was born not knowing and have had only a little time to change that here and there."
- Richard Feynman
"To myself I am only a child playing on the beach, while vast oceans of truth lie undiscovered before me."
- Isaac Newton
"Every sentence I utter must be understood not as an affirmation, but as a question."
- Niels Bohr
"You should take the approach that you’re wrong. Your goal is to be less wrong."
- Elon Musk
"Any year that passes in which you don't destroy one of your best-loved ideas is a wasted year."
- Charlie Munger
Learn more from the ideas of Robert Greene at Shortform! They have detailed breakdowns of his book The 50th Law and seven other of his books (including The 48 Laws of Power and The Laws of Human Nature).
I use Shortform to quickly learn the best ideas from thousands of non-fiction books and hundreds of podcasts. Here’s why it’s my favorite book-summary app:
The cost is equivalent to the price of one book a month and you can get a 5-day free trial and 20% off at shortform.com/littlealmanack
✍️ Essay
I recently co-authored (with Brian David Crane) an essay in which we explored the differences between wisdom and knowledge.
It’s based on the nugget of this letter, and it expands with bits from Tim Urban, Charlie Munger, Naval Ravikant and Jeff Bezos!
If you are curious, you can read the full piece here - spreadgreatideas.org/contrasts/wisdom-vs-knowledge
💥 Stuff I Loved
Happy Friday ;)
Julio xx
P.S. If you liked this article, you'll definitely enjoy my free 80-page ebook. It’s packed with 23 big ideas (from top influential doers and entrepreneurs) to become better, richer and wiser. Download your copy here!