Sep 10, 20221 min readthinking

The Socratic Method

To put it into action, follow this general structure:

Here’s a process of how you might apply Socratic Questioning:

Start asking questions: What’s the problem you are trying to solve? We often waste time and energy trying to solve the “wrong” problem. Identify the “right” problem before you try to solve it.
Propose your current thinking on the problem: What is your hypothesis? What are the origins of that thinking?
Open the floor for targeted questioning: Why do you think this? Is the thinking too vague? What is it based upon?
Challenge the assumptions underlying the original thinking: Why do you believe this to be true? How do you know it’s true? How would you know if you were wrong? Identify the source of beliefs on a problem. Be ruthless in evaluating their integrity and validity.
Evaluate the evidence used to support the thinking: What concrete evidence do I have? How credible is it? What “hidden evidence” may exist?
Understand the consequences of being wrong: Can an error be quickly fixed? How costly is this mistake? Always understand the stakes.
Evaluate potential alternatives: What alternative beliefs or viewpoints might exist? Why might they be superior? Why do others believe them to be true? What do they know that I don’t? Evaluate them on their merits and ask these same fundamental questions about them.
After zooming in, zoom out: What was my original thinking? Was it correct? If not, where did I err? What conclusions can I draw from the process about systemic errors in my thinking?