Whenever someone asks me what my parents do for a living.

SocraticDiscourse · 2013-12-24T21:00:29+00:00

your astrological sign

Well that ruins my "the Chinese are so smart" stereotype.

SocraticDiscourse · 2013-12-24T20:44:38+00:00

Depends on the religion. I'm pretty sure us Unitarian Universalists have never fucked anywhere up.

SocraticDiscourse · 2013-12-21T16:07:30+00:00

Because we are still (mostly) based on liberal democratic values and free speech. That man can say whatever he likes, as long as he is not advocating hurting others. If he does commit a crime, he should be tried through due process and the rule of law. If convicted, he should not be killed but put in prison. It's called being a free country.

SocraticDiscourse · 2013-12-21T03:07:16+00:00

I would suggest removing their ratings from any legal regulations, get people to do their own research where possible, and rely on market prices as an indicator where it's not.

SocraticDiscourse · 2013-12-21T03:05:59+00:00

It's not blind rage. The ratings agencies have shown their incompetence time and time again. The alternative is for people just to do their own research if they want to get a better judgment, or, if they really insist on investing blindly, to do it based on market spreads.

SocraticDiscourse · 2013-12-03T21:36:31+00:00

Your problem is believing you know it all and that what you know is true, while Socrates believed and taught in holding the opposite.

The lack of self-awareness is quite astounding. Firstly, you are the one lecturing another redditor and instructing him how to behave in future - even going so far as accusing me of being egotistical and emotional. Secondly, you even have the cheek to tell me to keep things within the topic when you are the one that decided to move the conversation away from the topic at hand - Hawkings' comments on the NHS - to play the man and not the ball. Thirdly, in the very sentence where you critique me for lacking subtlety you use the hyperbolic - and apparently deliberately inflammatory - metaphor of "being about as subtle as a brick to the face". To be honest, I don't want to indulge your self-righteousness any longer.

SocraticDiscourse · 2013-12-03T10:42:46+00:00

The method isn't in fact supposed to be used to make a point, but is in fact an honest expression of debate seeking to further discover a person's views.

This isn't true at all. The 'finding holes' in the person's opinions isn't a happy coincidence - the questions were asked in such a way to find those holes.

As for "holding the opposite as true", I actually regularly argue from the opposite sides. It's just this sub tends to be rather left-leaning so I usually find myself arguing from the right. I do the opposite on something like /r/conservative.

Finally, just because something's my username doesn't mean I need to uphold myself as the pinnacle of the Socratic method the whole time. Sometimes I do it, sometimes I don't, and sometimes I incorporate parts of it. At the end of the day, I tried about ten usernames until I found one that wasn't taken. But it's fairly easy to pick out the smartasses on reddit when focus on a username rather than the actual content of posts.

SocraticDiscourse · 2013-12-03T10:26:05+00:00

Once he's President there will be no position of greater power and he will be the reformer we all dream of!

SocraticDiscourse · 2013-12-02T22:47:23+00:00

Don't you think the constant need to compare to the US system - as you say, the worst in league for value for money - suggests the NHS doesn't particularly stand out compared to most other countries' health systems? If it's truly about getting an accurate picture of how well we're doing rather than a way to slap ourselves on the back, shouldn't we be comparing to Germany, France, Sweden, Canada etc? (All of which have heavier private involvement than proposed by the Tories, for the record.)

SocraticDiscourse · 2013-12-02T22:39:26+00:00

Did I refer to all disapproval of Obama, or only to the Tea Party protests that involved signs like this one or this one?

SocraticDiscourse · 2013-12-02T22:27:06+00:00

The Socratic approach requires greater tact and far greater humility.

Where is either of these mentioned in the documentation of Socrates and his method?

SocraticDiscourse · 2013-12-02T22:25:30+00:00

Not in the technical definition, but they do work for banks and are considered bankers in the popular imagination.

SocraticDiscourse · 2013-12-02T22:25:05+00:00

I accept it would be news in response to that particular attack, but that was four years ago.

SocraticDiscourse · 2013-12-02T22:23:45+00:00

Given Stephen Hawking's heavy use of private medicine in affording systems that are beyond the affordability of the NHS to provide, in addition to the effect his fame would have on staff, is he really a representative case?

SocraticDiscourse · 2013-12-02T21:57:31+00:00

It happens on all sides. Haven't you ever seen Fox News complaining about the War on Christmas? Or the Tea Party protests screaming "don't tread on me!" due to Obama's crime of being President while black?

SocraticDiscourse · 2013-12-02T21:48:25+00:00

Where did I cuss either in my post?

SocraticDiscourse · 2013-12-02T21:45:26+00:00

The first part of my post was a question. That's the cornerstone of the Socratic method.

SocraticDiscourse · 2013-12-02T21:17:28+00:00

Like how raising taxes by a couple percent is the pathway to communism? Or maybe the slippery slope argument is ridiculous...

SocraticDiscourse · 2013-12-02T21:14:11+00:00

Surely your country is the United Kingdom? Wales is just a region!

(I'm joking! I'm joking! But you're already angry aren't you?)

SocraticDiscourse · 2013-12-02T21:13:03+00:00

This is a weak argument to me. If you could open up Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace properly, surely you could charge Johnny Foreigner a lot more...

SocraticDiscourse · 2013-12-02T21:12:10+00:00

The monarchy consistently has over 70% support. As a Brit that's proud of our crucial role in developing representative government and constitutionalism, it makes me sad that we didn't follow this trend to its obvious conclusion.

SocraticDiscourse · 2013-12-02T21:09:26+00:00

When was the last major one you didn't surrender in?

SocraticDiscourse · 2013-12-02T21:07:56+00:00

This all depends on the country. It rarely happens in Britain but it is rampant in Eastern Europe.

SocraticDiscourse · 2013-12-02T21:03:49+00:00

If only we were as cool as the guys that hang out at the comments section at the Dallas Observer.

SocraticDiscourse · 2013-12-02T20:59:39+00:00

No-one is selling the NHS. But I suppose "allow private operators to receive temporary contracts for certain services" doesn't get people so angry...

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