Modern Day Socrates.

Who is the modern day Socrates? Well, folks, let's take a look at who Socrates is, and what Socrates does. Socrates had the gusto to make people question everything they believe in, even if they believed their faith in said belief was unshakable. Socrates was also extremely intelligent, giving him the ability to ask the right questions at the right times. One of Socrates' most unique traits was that in his "dialogues", he used a strategy that some refer to as "mental judo". When using said "mental judo", Socrates would "dodge with the punches", so to speak; taking whatever someone threw at him and using it to his advantage. Apart from tactics, Socrates was also pretty popular. He drew crowds, accumulated followers, and gained attention from even the Greek government.

So, I was looking for someone shrewd, socially aware and popular, which isn't really that hard. That could be one of hundreds, thousands, even. It has to be more difficult than that. And then it dawned on me. I was looking at it all wrong. Although referred to as "mental judo", it's secretly not judo at all...it's karate. Karate is much more aggressive, which although on a surface level, Socrates is not, he is one of the most successful debaters of all time. Debating is a very aggressive activity. Although his methods seemed passive and judo-esque, they are actually aggressive in nature because of the end result he had hoped to achieve(winning the argument).

Then another thing occured to me. Is "mental" really the correct wording for what was really going on? No. The answer is no. Socrates was a philosopher and a debater for such a long time that it became easy for him. A habit. Second nature, almost. When you stop thinking about doing something and just instinctively do it, it's more cognitive than anything. So, what Socrates' real method was should have been called "Cognitive Karate". So then I was looking for a dialogist as shrewd as Socrates. As socially aware as Socrates. As well known as Socrates. A Dialogist who Included Cognitive Karate. Or a D.i.c.k, for short.

Then it hit me like an obese filmaker in a baseball cap and wire frame glasses. I knew it all along. If there is one man in the modern age who is not only intelligent, socially aware and popular like Socrates, but is also a total D.i.c.k., it's Michael Moore. (click the link).

An Unexamined Life.

A life unexamined.

Original Thesis:

An unexamined life is an unfulfilled life. It is ignorant and stagnant and perpetuates unhappiness.

What does it mean to "examine a life?"

Imagine a life as a puzzle. The pieces consisting of memories, personality traits, aspirations, experiences, interests, priorities, appearance, etc. Anything that can contribute to the image, or the image of the life as a whole, is a piece of the puzzle. Puzzle pieces, as we know, are different shapes and sizes. They create a picture once made to fit. Puzzles are made to be solved. Puzzles, we know, do not solve themselves.

When a person's puzzle is solved, their life has been examined. They have taken every piece of their life and made them fit together. They then see their life in its entirety. They understand more about themselves, others, life in general.

What then, is to do with an examined life?

After piecing together a life, either a person like the picture they see, or they don't. It is up to them to change who they are, or what they're doing in order to make their life look the way they want it to.

The continuation of an examined life.

Very much unlike puzzle pieces, pieces of a persons life can change drastically or disappear completely. It is up to any given person to pay attention to their life and examine what's going on in order to rearrange or change things in order to keep the puzzle solved the way they want it to be.

Eulogy.

MY YOUGOOGOOLEE

I had a life, I lived it, it's gone now. The fact that I died in that freak teeter-totter accident does not at all change the fact that up until the very moment where that renegade elephant(having escaped from Brookfield Zoo) sat on my eight year old cousin Ben(who was sitting opposite the teeter totter from me), thereby squishing him and catapulting me hundreds upon hundreds of feet into the air, where I was caught, carried, and thrown by a flock of seagulls into the jet engine of a Southwest commercial flight plane, only to be scattered all about O'Hare airport, I did, in fact, live a life.

In my life, I didn't do anything completely remarkable (unless you really fancy homework, doodles, and messy rooms), but I wanted to. Most people knew not of what I had accomplished (not much), but what I was always trying to accomplish with my many ventures of acting, writing, music, and various stupid performances. They knew not the results(because there were yet to be any), but the steps I was constantly taking to move towards those goals...eventually.

Well, those steps are more like an eternal stairmaster now, I guess.

It wasn't really important to me, though. You know, that I hadn't accomplished much. Because what people knew me for was not what I had done but the person I was everyday. The kind of friend I was. People took importance in my life, rather than things. I was the person you'd call at 3:00 am, freaking out about something.

Well, maybe not the only person you'd call. But probably the only one to answer and stay on the phone with you.

Granted, I was not completely selfless, or whatever. There were plenty of things I did for myself to make me happy. What with music or poetry or reading or eating an entire block of cheddar or other various things not mentionable in a school blog.

But, on a whole, on a "day to day" basis, I really believe that I lived my life in a way that showed the people I loved that I loved them. Wether it was trying to make them laugh, or helping them to cry, I was really there. And hopefully really remembered for that.

And not, well, you know...the whole "elephant thing".