My Modern Day Socrates

Socrates constantly questioned those to make them question themselves. How much do we all really know? Why do we believe what we believe? I’ve started to contemplate these types of issues much more lately. Partly because I’m getting older but also because of one person. His name is Eliseo, and he is my modern day Socrates.

Eliseo is a friend of mine that I’ve known for a couple years now. He’s one of the most interesting individuals I know. I’d never admit that to him though. He’s very good with advice and wants to be a high school counselor or psychiatrist one day. Maybe that’s why he’s so good at asking questions. Whenever we talk he always make me laugh or think.

I thought I knew a lot of things for certain before some of the conversations we’ve had. I remember one particular phone call. We started debating our views on fate. I stated that there is no such thing as fate because we make decisions that could alter our life drastically one way or the other. He started asking me to explain my reasoning further or why do I feel the way I do. I started off strong, (or at least I thought) but after some time I began to question myself. He never outright called me dumb or tried to prove his point but I ended up agreeing with a lot he said.

I guess the reason I like to keep him around is because he isn’t scared to question the big things in life. Whenever I have spare time or am just sitting on the train, I like to think. I’ll ask myself questions to see if I can answer them. I’m not crazy by the way. I owe it all to Eliseo. Again I would never admit that to him.