I cannot teach anybody anything, i can only make them think – Socrates

I have been covering some philosophical quotes lately. I do believe that business, entrepreneurship and “the hustle culture” should be anchored in our philosophical existence. Being detached of the philosophical aspect of things, might make business “forced labor”, rather than a plan for a better future. Thus this quote is presented to you by the one and only “Socrates“. The Greek philosopher who is credited for founding the Western philosophy and being the first moral philosopher of the ethical tradition of thought.

Technicalities:
The saying is based on Socrates’ philosophy, but with a modern paraphrased version for a sound byte or meme. The quote itself is unsourced. 

I cannot teach anybody anything, i can only make them think

– Socrates

“The primary aim of teaching is to ignite the mind into thinking on a subject. Once the brain has begun to apply and think on a subject, the role of teaching reduces to guidance only. ” Some guy on the Internet. I couldn’t agree more, especially in the computer age. Any task that is learned based on a specific set of logic steps, will be sooner or later given to a robot or software to execute. Our biggest strength as a species is the ability to learn how to think. A strong A.I.* might also be able to take the thinking part (but we are still very far from achieving the creation of a strong A.I.).

This quote is essential in the case of business mentorship. In business, you can not learn just a specific set of rules or use cases. Because there will be always new obstacles, new challenges, new opportunities. Thus learning how to think is the key here. We can not ignore learning the other essentials that are needed for running a business, but leaning how to think is a priority.

* strong A.I.: An artificial intelligence capable of logical thinking.

Related : How to Find Business Mentors