The Greek philosopher Socrates, as quoted by his student Plato, claimed that learning did not involve absorbing new information, but was in fact remembering.  He believed that everyone is connected to the universe and already instinctively knows the truth, but we are not aware of this vast inherent knowledge until a specific datum of knowledge is triggered, remembered.  Education then, is the process of becoming aware of what we already know.

After making this strange claim to his students, he then demonstrated it.

A man walked by and Socrates called him over and asked if he knew any geometry.  The man said “no”.  Socrates then drew a square on the ground and asked the man how he would double its area.  His first guess was to double the length of the sides, but as he extended the sides of the drawn square on the ground, he realized it was much too big.  Socrates never told the man anything, he simply asked a series of questions, and as the man thought, and drew figures in response to Socrates’ questions, he eventually realized that the length of the diagonal of the square would form the sides of a square of double area.

Socrates’ students were astounded.  Socrates never gave the man any information, not even a hint, he merely asked questions and this man with no knowledge of geometry discovered for himself that in order to double the area of a square, simply take the diagonal of the square to be doubled, and use that length to form the sides of a new square.

We already know, at some hidden level, the solution to any problem we encounter, and I wish for you a powerful memory.

P.S.  I’m writing this quick blog without reference to Plato.  I recommend checking the Plato volume of “Great Books of the Western World” at a library.  Plato tells the story much better than I have repeated here.