We saw in the previous post how Socrates demonstrated that we are all connected, and have access to all knowledge.  It is possible for everyone to know, or remember, a truth.  The truth is simple and resonates in the mind.  Confusion only occurs because of a lack of knowledge or too much false information, not because something is too complicated.

When someone knows something, they want to share that knowledge with others, so they explain it so that the other person can realize it for themselves.  It seems we instinctively know that understanding occurs inside the mind, it is not something we can give to someone from the outside in.

But when someone does not want others to know the truth, but only to manipulate people, they will tell them what to believe without explanation.  This is sometimes called the “authority argument”.  Some obvious authority arguments are, “because I said so”, “I have a degree/experience/etc.”, or the popular “everybody knows”.  A much more deceptive authority argument is to simply state something without any reason at all, pretending it must be believed merely because it was stated.

We are all guilty of the authority argument at times, it’s not necessarily bad or manipulative.  If a child asked Einstein what one plus one equaled, rather than explain arithmetic, or ask the child what they thought, he might simply answer, “two”, and see if that satisfied the child’s curiosity for the time.

But on issues of importance, like politics or war, be very careful of those who are unable or unwilling to explain their “solutions” in terms that allow people to understand the issue themselves.  It indicates they either don’t know the truth, or they don’t want us to know.  Honest people want to share their insights with others, and trust that others, when they understand, will agree with the insight.

I think that is one way to sift through the haystack of confusion to find the simple needles of truth.  What do you think?