This is going to be a rather weird post. At the bottom is a 24 minute video, I guess 9 years old, about an accident Greek philosopher who died (after being forced to drink Hemlock - as in picture) in 399 BC.
As the presenter Alain de Botton says, Socrates, despite his ugliness, is the only philosopher to have been given the honor of a fridge magnet!
The Socratic path to self confidence is to have confidence in our own beliefs and not be swayed by the opinions of others. He believed humans were like sheep, that we passively follow each other. We assume others, particularly those that lead us, know what they are talking about - we trust those in authority.
Whilst we may question the bit about trusting those in authority, the bottom line is we rarely take action and challenge authority. How many of you have been arrested because of your beliefs - I certainly haven’t?
We imagine others must know what they are talking about and have the skills to deliver - especially if we lack self confidence ourselves. There is a pressure to conform, to act within acceptable social norms.
Socrates had the advantage of living in a time when he could readily go up to those in power and question them - as he questioned everyone. Unfortunately he had the disadvantage of living at a time and place when those who fell foul of their Government for what they said and did were executed (although sadly there are still too many countries where that is still the case).
Socrates wanted everyone to scrutinise what we believe, he believed everyone has a duty to reflect on our life:
“an unexamined life is not worth living”
Several of my posts here have centred on how our belief system can feed into unhelpful thoughts and undermine our self confidence. My advice on challenging beliefs came down to taking stock, start questioning, change habits and stepping out of your comfort zone. On the challenging beliefs post there is a great quote :-
“Just because you’ve believed something for a long time doesn’t mean its right. It just means you’ve believed it for a long time!” Craig Harper
So I totally agree with Socrates that challenging our beliefs is a very important thing to be able to do. But I also recognise it can be difficult. The Socratic method boils down to:-
1) Write out a belief as an emphatic statement
for example - If I am well paid I will enjoy my job
2) Find an exception to the statement you have created
Some people are miserable and well paid
3) If you have an exception, then that statement is unsound or imprecise.
4) Change the original statement to take the exception into account.
Being well paid is no guarantee I will enjoy my job, but there is a possibility my enjoyment may increase.
5) Keep looking for exceptions until find a statement that you are unable to disprove.
Now you can find exceptions to most statements and two people can come to “watertight” statements that are polar opposite by following this logical sequence. But that’s not the point. What is more important you can demonstrate to your own satisfaction why you believe something.
If you work out for yourself why you believe (or not) something - whether its in God, your ability to cook a meal or whether a person likes you - then it gives you confidence to stand up for that belief. If your belief is simply based on following everyone else (or the opinions and beliefs of parents, peers, teachers or others) then its not so trustworthy.
Top photo from Wikipedia, bottom by bencrowe on Flickr
译文:
苏格拉底的自信
这将是一个相当奇怪的情况。事情源于一段24分钟的录像，公元前399年，我猜他大概9岁，是关于一个希腊哲学家意外死亡的故事（图片中他被迫喝毒药）。
正如主持人阿兰德波顿说的，尽管苏格拉底有他丑陋的地方，但是他是唯一一个享有如冰箱磁体般感召力的哲学家！
苏格拉底自信是因为他坚信自己的信仰，而且不为他人的意见所动摇。他认为人类和绵羊一样，会被动地跟进对方。我们相信别人，特别是那些带领我们的人。我们相信他们所说的话——-我们相信当权者。
虽然我们可能会对当权者持一点怀疑态度，而底线是我们很少采取行动，挑战权威。因为你们的信念—我自己当然没有，你们中有多少人已经被捕了？
我们设想别人必须知道他们所谈论的事情以及有能力去履行—尤其是当我们本身缺乏自信的时候，给自己一些压力，在社会行为规范可接受的范围内采取行动。
苏格拉底的幸运之处在于他处在一个这样的一个时期：他可以轻易接触到当权者以及向他们提出问题，也是他问每一个人的问题。不幸的是他是生活在一个这样的时间和地点：那些触犯政府规定的人会为他们所说的话被处决（可悲的是现在仍然有许多国家现还这样）。
苏格拉底希望大家仔细想想我们的信仰，他认为每个人都有责任真实的反映自己的生活。
“未经仔细考虑的生活是没有意义的”
我们的信念系统是如何转变为不切实际的想法，然后剥削我们的信心呢？我有几个同事对此很感兴趣。我认为富有挑战性的信念 会使我们进行反思，然后质疑，接着改变习惯，使我们走出自己的安乐窝。因为富有挑战性的信念会有很大的指引作用。
克雷格哈珀说过：“你相信一件事情很长时间并不意味着这件事情是对的，而只是说明了你坚信它已经有很长一段时间了。”
所以，我完全同意苏格拉底说的：“挑战我们的信仰是一件可以做的也是一件非常重要的事情。但我也承认它是很困难的。苏格拉底把方法归结为： -
1) 写一个信念作为一个有力的声明
例如-如果我能领到一份好薪水，我会热爱我的工作
2) 找一个特例来证明你所做的
有些人很不幸，但是他能领到一份好薪水
3) 如果你是一个例外，那么这种说法是不合理的或不准确的。
4)改掉原来的声明，采取其他的考虑。
优厚待遇也一定能保证我会享受我的工作，但有可能让我增加工作的乐趣。
5) 继续寻找，直到找到一个让您无法反驳的实例。
现在你可以找一个特例以及两个人来参与你的实例，使得你的言论与正常逻辑顺序正好相反并“无懈可击”。但这不是重点。更重要的是你能给自己一个满意的答案，知道为什么会你会信这个东西。
如果你想知道你为什么会信某样东西-它可能是上帝，你做饭的能力或者一个人会喜欢你-然后他们会使你有信心相信它。如果您的信仰只不过是基于以下某个人的（你父母，同龄人，教师或其他人的观点或者信仰） ，则其不可信赖的。