Six principles for becoming a better Lifelong Learner

By Socrates

Socrates (470 – 399 B.C.) founded the Western tradition of independent thinking. He epitomized the "Golden Age" of Athens. Immortalized in Plato’s Dialogues, his famed Socratic Method has been acclaimed by keen thinkers in every age.

1. Ask Questions

In every one of my Dialogues, with every person I encountered, I tried to pose questions that would steer the conversation onto interesting, useful, exhilarating ground. You can do this by making your questions open-ended." Rather than requesting specific information, pose questions that invite the other person to open up and reveal what they know, think, and feel.

2. Know Thyself

Often, before entering a conversation, I would go into a kind of trance (see the opening of "The Symposium".) Some people thought I had an affliction like epilepsy – but I was merely getting in touch with my deepest values. Are there ways that have found useful, to align yourself with your essential convictions, as a way to engage with others more authentically and effectively?

3. Experience Eureka

I used metaphors to break through rigid thinking, like the parable of "The Cave" in "The Republic", which is a prophecy of virtual reality! Do or could YOU use "paradigm-breaking" techniques to jostle your thinking out of its usual channels?

4. Think for Yourself

Everyone I met in the streets of 5th century Athens seemed to be using "conventional wisdom" instead of thinking things through for themselves. The trouble was, these commonplaces all have their contraries: If you cite "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread," I can counter with "He who hesitates is lost." You cannot fall back on received wisdom to guide your life. Do you have ways to think your own thoughts?

5. Learn Together

All of us are smarter than any of us, as one of my living disciplines, Warren Bennis has documented in his book on great teams, "Organizing Genius." All of my thinking was done in collaboration with friends and colleagues, in dialogue form. Can you make greater use of other people to stimulate and refine your thinking?

6. Create Your Life

Sometimes in life you must break through your present armor, to reveal or open yourself to the next stage of growth – as I did with the Silenus. Is there part of YOUR life which needs to be broken through, for new growth to occur?"

The Attributes of the Life long Learner are:

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Last modified: April 14, 2004

Disclaimer: This website is the sole responsibility of Mike McMahon. It does not represent any official opinions, statement of facts or positions of the Alameda Unified School District. Its sole purpose is to disseminate information to interested individuals in the Alameda community.