Dreams of the Quill

I didn’t think I’d be encountering more Socratic nonsense this semester, but Cognitive Science 1 in one week’s worth of reading delivered an all-star cast of Descartes, Aristotle, Plato, and Locke! Hurray.

“So, crates,” began King Menon, addressing the blueprints scattered about his storage shed. “Why are you here today?”

“We are here to seek, not to instruct,” they responded. “Rather, we expect that should you seek alongside us you will find that we do nothing but seek.”

“Yes, but what is the meaning of this ‘seeking’ of which you speak?”

“You must seek the meaning yourself.” The blueprints remained motionless on the shed floor. Indolent louts, thought Menon, when they have such knowledge, to keep it from me.

“You’re a bunch of self-indulgent sophists,” he proclaimed, giving one of the blueprints a swift kick. “All I want is to build some boxes, and the blueprints themselves won’t reveal the instructions.”