September 22, 2025 • 15 mins
I’ve come to realize that wisdom isn’t about having all the right answers—it’s about learning to ask the right questions. That’s why I focus so much on the Socratic Method. It’s a way of thinking that helps us guard against destructive choices—whether that’s falling for online scams, chasing quick money, or ignoring the long-term cost of short-term pleasure. Ancient wisdom, like the lessons in Proverbs, still speaks loudly today: if we don’t stop to question, we risk walking blindly into traps. This is exactly what inspired me to start Misa.solutions.
It’s an AI-powered Socratic Method Tutor designed to help students, educators, and even professionals practice critical thinking every day. Instead of memorizing facts, learners engage with questions that spark curiosity, test assumptions, and connect today’s actions to tomorrow’s results. My hope is simple: to empower people to think deeply, live wisely, and face modern challenges with discernment and confidence. 💡 Every great answer begins with a question. 👉 Curious how this works in practice? Learn more at Misa.solutions. #Wisdom #SocraticMethod #CriticalThinking #FutureOfLearning #MisaSolutions
James Henderson is the founder of Misa.solutions, a veteran-owned company bringing the Socratic Method into modern education through AI-powered tutoring. With a passion for helping K–12 students, homeschoolers, and educators move beyond memorization, he focuses on building curiosity, wisdom, and critical thinking for the next generation of learners.
It’s an AI-powered Socratic Method Tutor designed to help students, educators, and even professionals practice critical thinking every day. Instead of memorizing facts, learners engage with questions that spark curiosity, test assumptions, and connect today’s actions to tomorrow’s results. My hope is simple: to empower people to think deeply, live wisely, and face modern challenges with discernment and confidence. 💡 Every great answer begins with a question. 👉 Curious how this works in practice? Learn more at Misa.solutions. #Wisdom #SocraticMethod #CriticalThinking #FutureOfLearning #MisaSolutions
James Henderson is the founder of Misa.solutions, a veteran-owned company bringing the Socratic Method into modern education through AI-powered tutoring. With a passion for helping K–12 students, homeschoolers, and educators move beyond memorization, he focuses on building curiosity, wisdom, and critical thinking for the next generation of learners.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the deep dive. Today, we've pulled together some
really fascinating sources exploring how this ancient idea, the Socratic method,
you know, learning by asking questions might just be the
best armor you have well in today's world.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Yeah, especially against all the digital pitfalls and frankly, the
ways we can sabotage ourselves. Our mission today is really
to dig into how asking these disciplined questions can turn
abstract warnings into like real personal resilience.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
It's this idea of wisdom acting as actual armor for
your heart, right, protecting your choices, your future exactly. So
let's start with this image that keeps popping up in
the material picture. This someone, maybe a teacher or mentor figure,
is looking out a window. It's twilight, and they see
this young person just kind of wandering down the street,
maybe looking a bit lost or bored, totally unaware that
(00:50):
someone's lurking in the shadows ready with some kind of trap.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
And that image it just maps so perfectly onto now,
doesn't it. The window, Well, that's our screen maybe where
we see warnings or why each others online.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Right on the street. That's maybe social media or some
dodgy dating app or maybe uh an unregulated crypto market.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Totally, and the smooth talker isn't hiding in literal shadows anymore.
They're behind a slick profile promising insane returns or offering
instant connection, instant validation.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
They're basically engineered to hit our desires and just bypass
any critical thinking.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Which brings us right to the core question. You know
what actually makes the difference between the person who walks
straight into that trap, whether it's financial, relational, whatever, and
the person who kind of pauses, turns away.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
And the sources seem pretty clear it's not just about
being smart. Plenty of really intelligent people fall for scams
or get pulled into destructive patterns.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Yeah, exactly, it's not raw i Q. It's wisdom. But okay,
how do you build that specific kind of wisdom, the
kind that actually shows up when you need it, when
you're tired or lonely, we're just acting on impulse.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
That's the million dollar question.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
And that's really where the socratic method, this questioning tech
comes in. The genius of it isn't just asking like
big philosophical questions. It's that it creates a kind of cognitive.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Speed bump, a speed bump.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Yeah, Like when temptation hits your emotional brain, the limpic
system is screaming, go no pleasure. The Socratic pause, that
moment where you force yourself to ask a question. It
gives the rational part of your brain, the prefrontal cortex.
Maybe just ten seconds, but that's often all it needs
to step in and say hold on a second. That
(02:28):
pause is the armor.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Okay, so let's talk about valuing that wisdom. The sources
use this really intense image guard your teachings like the
apple of your eye.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Mm visceral right. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
It suggests you have to fiercely protect something. It's incredibly
precious but also really vulnerable. Why does wisdom need that
much guarding?
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Well, because the way the sources frame it, your heart,
your core desires, your impulses. You're guiding principles that determines
your path in life. So if your heart is unguarded,
if it's easily swayed or just impulsive, your choices will
be all over the place. And those choices they literally
dictate where you end up. So guarding your heart is
like practical advice for mental resilience.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
I get that, but I can also hear someone thinking, okay,
guard your eye ancient proverb. How does that start me
from clicking on a fishing link today? You know, it
feels a bit disconnected.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Totally fair, and that's why we need to look at
the real world cost when that protection fails. Like Amanda's
story from the sources.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Right, Amanda, she was what nineteen super bright heading for
medical school.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Exactly, no lack of intelligence there, but she lacked protection
in an online relationship that just moved way too fast.
This guy, the smooth talker, convinced her to send really
compromising photos, sold her this line about total trust and
unconditional love.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Oh no, And then when she wanted out.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
That's when the trap snap shut. He extorted her for
two years, two agonizing years. She ended up dropping out
of her pre mid program, Her dream just gone.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
She said something later, didn't she about knowing it was wrong?
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Yeah, she said, I knew it felt wrong when I
hit send, But I just I wanted to believe him
so badly. That moment, that conflict between your gut feeling
and your desire, that's precisely where the socratic questioning needed
to kick in.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Her reflection afterwards was just tragic. Something like if I
had just questioned his motives, really question them instead of
just feeling uneasy.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Everything would be different. It's heartbreaking.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
So the Socratic practice here isn't just knowing the warning.
It's about making it personal, internalizing it so it becomes
an automatic self check.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Absolutely. It forces you to ask, right then and there,
why is this warning actually important me right now? And
the answer becomes immediate because this choice, this click, this
picture could wreck the future I'm building.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
It moves you from just vague worry to practical thinking.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Exactly, and you ask things like, Okay, realistically, what's the
worst that could happen if I ignore this gut feeling, this wisdom,
not being paranoid, just being realistic.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
It reminds me of that observation from doctor Rachel Chen
who works with students. But the ones who really thrived
weren't just BookSmart, right, They were the ones who had
somehow internalized these protective questions. So they just fired off automatically.
Is this safe? Is this wise? Does this align with
who I actually want to be? They'd built the armor
by constantly testing their choices against the potential risk.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
That constant testing, that's the key. Another really powerful aspect
of this Socratic approach is using other people's stories, like
that young guy in the original image, to learn without
having to suffer the consequences ourselves.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Ah, So looking at someone else's mess lets you be
more objective, less defensive. Precisely when it's not your mistake,
you can dissect it coldly, logically. Take that financial case study.
We looked at this college student totally obsessed with projecting
a certain lifestyle.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
The designer close the fancy spring breaks.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
And to fund it, they racked up something like two
hundred thousand dollars private loans, these high interest ones, just
assuming you know, oh, my future salary will easily cover this.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Which is easy to tell yourself. Yeah, very easy. Now
most people just look and say, wow, bad decision, don't
take on that much debt, simple warning.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
But the Socratic way goes deeper.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Yeah, it pushes you to ask about the why behind it,
Like I, Okay, what was this person really buying with
all that borrowed money? Yeah, because it wasn't just stuff,
was it.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
No, it was probably status or maybe trying to fit
in or avoiding feeling inadequate exactly.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Maybe it was freedom from shame, the illusion of success,
and then you probe the assumptions. What unrealistic bets were
they making about their future income, about job security, and
maybe the most important one, what other choices, less damaging
ones did they just ignore or dismiss, maybe community college first,
(06:51):
working part time. By examining those forks in the road
in someone else's story, you actually start building roadmaps for
your own decisions.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
That makes sense. It's like you're running simulations without the
personal cost. I think that's what happened with Sarah's story too.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Remind me about Sarah.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
She was studying the story of another young woman who
got hooked on prescription pills, and as she was applying
these kinds of analytical questions to that story, huh, she
had this sudden, chilling realization. She was taking her mom's
anxiety meds herself, you know, just for big tests, telling
herself she was totally in control.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Wow, So she saw her own reflection in the other.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Story exactly, she said. Analyzing that other person's choices, having
to articulate their mistakes basically woke her up to the
fact that she was on the exact same dangerous path.
It saved her.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
That's incredible. So okay, if you're reading a cautionary tale,
or watching a documentary, or even just hearing about a
friend's mistake, the Socratic toolkit would be questions likelick.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Light, what was the first small mistake here, not just
the big disaster at the end.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Good one, looking for the subtle start?
Speaker 1 (07:53):
And maybe what warning signs did they ignore or rationalize away?
And am I maybe doing the same thing right now?
Speaker 2 (07:59):
Oh yeah, training yourself to spot those little red flags.
And then the toughest.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
One, could this absolutely happen to me?
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Yeah? You have to break through that it won't happen
to me shield because that delusion, that's what the smooth
talker relies on.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
Speaking of smooth talk, the sources describe it as words
smoother than oil. That's such a great image.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
It really is, because oil reduces friction, right, Smooth talk
works by removing the friction between your desire and the
dumb choice.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
It makes it feel easy, natural, totally.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
It validates what you already want, dismisses your little flickers
of doubt, and makes something really risky feel completely safe.
Think about those emails promising thirty percent returns every month, or.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
The person on a dating app saying Oh, everyone shares
picks like this. Now, it's just how things work, right.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
The core technique is the same. They use truth very
very selectively. They sell you hard on the pleasure of
the upside, and they conveniently leave out all the potential
pain and consequences.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
But it's tough because sometimes they sound so plausible, they
might have details, references, they sound professional. How do you
cut through a really convincing pitch.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
You hit it with specific, logical, almost inconvenient questions. That's
the kryptonite. Like Jason the programmer, he dodged a huge
money laundering scheme.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
What was the story there?
Speaker 2 (09:16):
The pitch was fantastic, great pay, way above market rate,
flexible hours. They even had seemingly legit references. Looked perfect
on the surface.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
So what did Jason do?
Speaker 2 (09:26):
He didn't just accept the story. He started questioning the
mechanics of it. He asked things like, Okay, why exactly
are you paying so much above the standard rate for
this kind of work?
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Hmmm? Poking the assumptions.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Yeah, and then the killer question, the one that blew
it up. Why do you need me to use my
personal bank account for payments? Why not use a standard
corporate payment system or an escro.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Service ah questions about the process, not just the promise exactly.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
He wasn't attacking the dream, he was questioning the plumbing
and the result.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Silence, right, They just vanished radio silence.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
The communication just stopped cold, and Jason avoided getting tangled
up in federal charges that apparently three other programmers in
that same ring eventually faced. His takeaway was crucial deception
crumbles under specific, non emotional questioning.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
That's the core. Then the immunity comes from.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Asking questions like is this actually completely true? Or are
they cherry picking facts? And maybe even more importantly, what
critical information? What downside are they deliberately not mentioning? If
all you hear is pleasure and upside and they dodge
talk about risk or consequences, huge red flag.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
That links back to what doctor Jennifer Moore found in
her research. Smooth talkers thrive on emotional momentum. They create
urgency crushure you to decide now yes.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Time pressure is key for them.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
So by forcing these logical process type questions, you slam
the brakes on that emotional rush. You shift from reacting
emotionally to responding rationally, and that pause again it just
kills their strategy.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
It really does. And maybe the most critical function of
all this questioning is connecting our present choices to their
future consequences. The sources use that image of the young
person going like an ox to the.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
Slaughter, yeah, seeing only the immediate gratification the green grass
right in front of them, completely blind to where the
path actually ends.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Exactly. So, the Socratic methods job here is to force
us to lift our heads and see the whole path
right to the end, to bridge that gap between the
impulsive now and the inevitable lathy.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
It forces foresight. Like Lisa's story, she was twenty two,
I think.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Yeah, and got offered what sounded like easy money. Just
received packages at her apartment and then reship them. Seems simple,
low risk, harmless side hustle. Right, That's how it was pitched.
But instead of just grabbing the quick cash, she stopped.
She asked herself this incredibly powerful question, Okay, fast forward
five years, what does this one decision look like then?
Speaker 1 (11:52):
And she didn't sugarcoat the answer for herself.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
No, she ran the scenario. Honestly. The quick money would
be long gone, but what would likely remain a criminal
record being unemployable in teaching, which was her dream field,
her reputation trashed.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Wow, that's a stark picture.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
It was enough that honest look into the future made
her turn down the easy money, and then six months
later the whole operation got busted. It was a massive
theft ring. She avoided arrest purely because she chose foresight
over impulse.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
So that's like a formal exercise scenario running.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
Yeah, you can think of it that way. It's a
socratic exercise where you force yourself brutally, honestly sometimes to
assess the full long term cost, not just the short
term game. The questions are tough, but they're protective.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
What's the total price tag on this decision down the
road emotionally, financially for my relationship exactly?
Speaker 2 (12:44):
And the really hard one, is this brief pleasure really
worth the potential long term pain? You have to weigh
it honestly.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
And thinking about others too crucial.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Who else gets hurt if this goes wrong because our
choices always ripple outwards or we never act in a
total vacuum. On the scenarios, best case, which is usually
what the smooth thalker sells you often pure fantasy. Worst case,
the potential train wreck, and then the most important one,
the most likely case, what's the probable realistic outcome, that's
(13:16):
the one that should God your decision.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
Okay, so wrapping this up, what does this look like
day to day? It's not like we're constantly debating philosophy
with ourselves.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Well not at all. It's much more about building a consistent,
maybe even quiet, habit of self reflection, catching those small urges,
those little justifications before they snowball into something disastrous.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
Like David's story the guy recovering from gambling addiction exactly.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
He uses this kind of daily socratic check in asks himself,
what triggered me today? What specific thought popped up? Trying
to justify just one little bet. He's using the questions
like an early warning system, turning those dangerous impulses into
data he can manage.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
It makes so much sense in a world that's literally
designed to make us act on impulse, where algorithms and
ads are trying to bypass our thinking brain. Yeah, this
ability to just pause and ask a question, it feels
less like self help and more like an act of resistance.
It feels genuinely revolutionary.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
I think it is so Let's boil it down to
that core toolkit, the five essential questions that form the
bedrock of this armor for your heart, the ones you
can carry forward.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Okay, Number one, is this really true? Or am I
being played?
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Number two? What's being left out here? What's the hidden
downside or consequence?
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Three? Where does this path actually lead in the long run?
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Four? What will this decision cost me and the people
I care about?
Speaker 1 (14:35):
And the big one? Number five? Is this choice worthy
of the person I truly want to become?
Speaker 2 (14:41):
You know, the person trapped by impulse or addiction or
just bad consequences isn't really free, are they?
Speaker 1 (14:46):
No?
Speaker 2 (14:47):
But the person who uses that pause, who asks the
questions before they leap, even if it's just for ten seconds,
that person is actively shaping their own future. They're claiming
their freedom.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
So the final thought is, don't wait until you're the
person looking out the window filled with regret, watching your
past self walk into disaster.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Right the wisdom you build now, the questions you internalize today,
that becomes the strength you'll desperately need when temptation or
pressure hits later.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Start now, question everything, especially your own impulses. Guard that
heart carefully, your future, your freedom really does depend on it.
Welcome to the deep dive. Today, we've pulled together some
really fascinating sources exploring how this ancient idea, the Socratic method,
you know, learning by asking questions might just be the
best armor you have well in today's world.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Yeah, especially against all the digital pitfalls and frankly, the
ways we can sabotage ourselves. Our mission today is really
to dig into how asking these disciplined questions can turn
abstract warnings into like real personal resilience.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
It's this idea of wisdom acting as actual armor for
your heart, right, protecting your choices, your future exactly. So
let's start with this image that keeps popping up in
the material picture. This someone, maybe a teacher or mentor figure,
is looking out a window. It's twilight, and they see
this young person just kind of wandering down the street,
maybe looking a bit lost or bored, totally unaware that
(00:50):
someone's lurking in the shadows ready with some kind of trap.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
And that image it just maps so perfectly onto now,
doesn't it. The window, Well, that's our screen maybe where
we see warnings or why each others online.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Right on the street. That's maybe social media or some
dodgy dating app or maybe uh an unregulated crypto market.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Totally, and the smooth talker isn't hiding in literal shadows anymore.
They're behind a slick profile promising insane returns or offering
instant connection, instant validation.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
They're basically engineered to hit our desires and just bypass
any critical thinking.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Which brings us right to the core question. You know
what actually makes the difference between the person who walks
straight into that trap, whether it's financial, relational, whatever, and
the person who kind of pauses, turns away.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
And the sources seem pretty clear it's not just about
being smart. Plenty of really intelligent people fall for scams
or get pulled into destructive patterns.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Yeah, exactly, it's not raw i Q. It's wisdom. But okay,
how do you build that specific kind of wisdom, the
kind that actually shows up when you need it, when
you're tired or lonely, we're just acting on impulse.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
That's the million dollar question.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
And that's really where the socratic method, this questioning tech
comes in. The genius of it isn't just asking like
big philosophical questions. It's that it creates a kind of cognitive.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Speed bump, a speed bump.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Yeah, Like when temptation hits your emotional brain, the limpic
system is screaming, go no pleasure. The Socratic pause, that
moment where you force yourself to ask a question. It
gives the rational part of your brain, the prefrontal cortex.
Maybe just ten seconds, but that's often all it needs
to step in and say hold on a second. That
(02:28):
pause is the armor.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Okay, so let's talk about valuing that wisdom. The sources
use this really intense image guard your teachings like the
apple of your eye.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Mm visceral right. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
It suggests you have to fiercely protect something. It's incredibly
precious but also really vulnerable. Why does wisdom need that
much guarding?
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Well, because the way the sources frame it, your heart,
your core desires, your impulses. You're guiding principles that determines
your path in life. So if your heart is unguarded,
if it's easily swayed or just impulsive, your choices will
be all over the place. And those choices they literally
dictate where you end up. So guarding your heart is
like practical advice for mental resilience.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
I get that, but I can also hear someone thinking, okay,
guard your eye ancient proverb. How does that start me
from clicking on a fishing link today? You know, it
feels a bit disconnected.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Totally fair, and that's why we need to look at
the real world cost when that protection fails. Like Amanda's
story from the sources.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Right, Amanda, she was what nineteen super bright heading for
medical school.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Exactly, no lack of intelligence there, but she lacked protection
in an online relationship that just moved way too fast.
This guy, the smooth talker, convinced her to send really
compromising photos, sold her this line about total trust and
unconditional love.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Oh no, And then when she wanted out.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
That's when the trap snap shut. He extorted her for
two years, two agonizing years. She ended up dropping out
of her pre mid program, Her dream just gone.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
She said something later, didn't she about knowing it was wrong?
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Yeah, she said, I knew it felt wrong when I
hit send, But I just I wanted to believe him
so badly. That moment, that conflict between your gut feeling
and your desire, that's precisely where the socratic questioning needed
to kick in.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Her reflection afterwards was just tragic. Something like if I
had just questioned his motives, really question them instead of
just feeling uneasy.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Everything would be different. It's heartbreaking.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
So the Socratic practice here isn't just knowing the warning.
It's about making it personal, internalizing it so it becomes
an automatic self check.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Absolutely. It forces you to ask, right then and there,
why is this warning actually important me right now? And
the answer becomes immediate because this choice, this click, this
picture could wreck the future I'm building.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
It moves you from just vague worry to practical thinking.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Exactly, and you ask things like, Okay, realistically, what's the
worst that could happen if I ignore this gut feeling, this wisdom,
not being paranoid, just being realistic.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
It reminds me of that observation from doctor Rachel Chen
who works with students. But the ones who really thrived
weren't just BookSmart, right, They were the ones who had
somehow internalized these protective questions. So they just fired off automatically.
Is this safe? Is this wise? Does this align with
who I actually want to be? They'd built the armor
by constantly testing their choices against the potential risk.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
That constant testing, that's the key. Another really powerful aspect
of this Socratic approach is using other people's stories, like
that young guy in the original image, to learn without
having to suffer the consequences ourselves.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Ah, So looking at someone else's mess lets you be
more objective, less defensive. Precisely when it's not your mistake,
you can dissect it coldly, logically. Take that financial case study.
We looked at this college student totally obsessed with projecting
a certain lifestyle.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
The designer close the fancy spring breaks.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
And to fund it, they racked up something like two
hundred thousand dollars private loans, these high interest ones, just
assuming you know, oh, my future salary will easily cover this.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Which is easy to tell yourself. Yeah, very easy. Now
most people just look and say, wow, bad decision, don't
take on that much debt, simple warning.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
But the Socratic way goes deeper.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Yeah, it pushes you to ask about the why behind it,
Like I, Okay, what was this person really buying with
all that borrowed money? Yeah, because it wasn't just stuff,
was it.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
No, it was probably status or maybe trying to fit
in or avoiding feeling inadequate exactly.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Maybe it was freedom from shame, the illusion of success,
and then you probe the assumptions. What unrealistic bets were
they making about their future income, about job security, and
maybe the most important one, what other choices, less damaging
ones did they just ignore or dismiss, maybe community college first,
(06:51):
working part time. By examining those forks in the road
in someone else's story, you actually start building roadmaps for
your own decisions.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
That makes sense. It's like you're running simulations without the
personal cost. I think that's what happened with Sarah's story too.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Remind me about Sarah.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
She was studying the story of another young woman who
got hooked on prescription pills, and as she was applying
these kinds of analytical questions to that story, huh, she
had this sudden, chilling realization. She was taking her mom's
anxiety meds herself, you know, just for big tests, telling
herself she was totally in control.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Wow, So she saw her own reflection in the other.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Story exactly, she said. Analyzing that other person's choices, having
to articulate their mistakes basically woke her up to the
fact that she was on the exact same dangerous path.
It saved her.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
That's incredible. So okay, if you're reading a cautionary tale,
or watching a documentary, or even just hearing about a
friend's mistake, the Socratic toolkit would be questions likelick.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Light, what was the first small mistake here, not just
the big disaster at the end.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Good one, looking for the subtle start?
Speaker 1 (07:53):
And maybe what warning signs did they ignore or rationalize away?
And am I maybe doing the same thing right now?
Speaker 2 (07:59):
Oh yeah, training yourself to spot those little red flags.
And then the toughest.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
One, could this absolutely happen to me?
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Yeah? You have to break through that it won't happen
to me shield because that delusion, that's what the smooth
talker relies on.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
Speaking of smooth talk, the sources describe it as words
smoother than oil. That's such a great image.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
It really is, because oil reduces friction, right, Smooth talk
works by removing the friction between your desire and the
dumb choice.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
It makes it feel easy, natural, totally.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
It validates what you already want, dismisses your little flickers
of doubt, and makes something really risky feel completely safe.
Think about those emails promising thirty percent returns every month, or.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
The person on a dating app saying Oh, everyone shares
picks like this. Now, it's just how things work, right.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
The core technique is the same. They use truth very
very selectively. They sell you hard on the pleasure of
the upside, and they conveniently leave out all the potential
pain and consequences.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
But it's tough because sometimes they sound so plausible, they
might have details, references, they sound professional. How do you
cut through a really convincing pitch.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
You hit it with specific, logical, almost inconvenient questions. That's
the kryptonite. Like Jason the programmer, he dodged a huge
money laundering scheme.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
What was the story there?
Speaker 2 (09:16):
The pitch was fantastic, great pay, way above market rate,
flexible hours. They even had seemingly legit references. Looked perfect
on the surface.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
So what did Jason do?
Speaker 2 (09:26):
He didn't just accept the story. He started questioning the
mechanics of it. He asked things like, Okay, why exactly
are you paying so much above the standard rate for
this kind of work?
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Hmmm? Poking the assumptions.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Yeah, and then the killer question, the one that blew
it up. Why do you need me to use my
personal bank account for payments? Why not use a standard
corporate payment system or an escro.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Service ah questions about the process, not just the promise exactly.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
He wasn't attacking the dream, he was questioning the plumbing
and the result.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Silence, right, They just vanished radio silence.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
The communication just stopped cold, and Jason avoided getting tangled
up in federal charges that apparently three other programmers in
that same ring eventually faced. His takeaway was crucial deception
crumbles under specific, non emotional questioning.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
That's the core. Then the immunity comes from.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Asking questions like is this actually completely true? Or are
they cherry picking facts? And maybe even more importantly, what
critical information? What downside are they deliberately not mentioning? If
all you hear is pleasure and upside and they dodge
talk about risk or consequences, huge red flag.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
That links back to what doctor Jennifer Moore found in
her research. Smooth talkers thrive on emotional momentum. They create
urgency crushure you to decide now yes.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Time pressure is key for them.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
So by forcing these logical process type questions, you slam
the brakes on that emotional rush. You shift from reacting
emotionally to responding rationally, and that pause again it just
kills their strategy.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
It really does. And maybe the most critical function of
all this questioning is connecting our present choices to their
future consequences. The sources use that image of the young
person going like an ox to the.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
Slaughter, yeah, seeing only the immediate gratification the green grass
right in front of them, completely blind to where the
path actually ends.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Exactly. So, the Socratic methods job here is to force
us to lift our heads and see the whole path
right to the end, to bridge that gap between the
impulsive now and the inevitable lathy.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
It forces foresight. Like Lisa's story, she was twenty two,
I think.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Yeah, and got offered what sounded like easy money. Just
received packages at her apartment and then reship them. Seems simple,
low risk, harmless side hustle. Right, That's how it was pitched.
But instead of just grabbing the quick cash, she stopped.
She asked herself this incredibly powerful question, Okay, fast forward
five years, what does this one decision look like then?
Speaker 1 (11:52):
And she didn't sugarcoat the answer for herself.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
No, she ran the scenario. Honestly. The quick money would
be long gone, but what would likely remain a criminal
record being unemployable in teaching, which was her dream field,
her reputation trashed.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Wow, that's a stark picture.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
It was enough that honest look into the future made
her turn down the easy money, and then six months
later the whole operation got busted. It was a massive
theft ring. She avoided arrest purely because she chose foresight
over impulse.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
So that's like a formal exercise scenario running.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
Yeah, you can think of it that way. It's a
socratic exercise where you force yourself brutally, honestly sometimes to
assess the full long term cost, not just the short
term game. The questions are tough, but they're protective.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
What's the total price tag on this decision down the
road emotionally, financially for my relationship exactly?
Speaker 2 (12:44):
And the really hard one, is this brief pleasure really
worth the potential long term pain? You have to weigh
it honestly.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
And thinking about others too crucial.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Who else gets hurt if this goes wrong because our
choices always ripple outwards or we never act in a
total vacuum. On the scenarios, best case, which is usually
what the smooth thalker sells you often pure fantasy. Worst case,
the potential train wreck, and then the most important one,
the most likely case, what's the probable realistic outcome, that's
(13:16):
the one that should God your decision.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
Okay, so wrapping this up, what does this look like
day to day? It's not like we're constantly debating philosophy
with ourselves.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Well not at all. It's much more about building a consistent,
maybe even quiet, habit of self reflection, catching those small urges,
those little justifications before they snowball into something disastrous.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
Like David's story the guy recovering from gambling addiction exactly.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
He uses this kind of daily socratic check in asks himself,
what triggered me today? What specific thought popped up? Trying
to justify just one little bet. He's using the questions
like an early warning system, turning those dangerous impulses into
data he can manage.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
It makes so much sense in a world that's literally
designed to make us act on impulse, where algorithms and
ads are trying to bypass our thinking brain. Yeah, this
ability to just pause and ask a question, it feels
less like self help and more like an act of resistance.
It feels genuinely revolutionary.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
I think it is so Let's boil it down to
that core toolkit, the five essential questions that form the
bedrock of this armor for your heart, the ones you
can carry forward.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Okay, Number one, is this really true? Or am I
being played?
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Number two? What's being left out here? What's the hidden
downside or consequence?
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Three? Where does this path actually lead in the long run?
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Four? What will this decision cost me and the people
I care about?
Speaker 1 (14:35):
And the big one? Number five? Is this choice worthy
of the person I truly want to become?
Speaker 2 (14:41):
You know, the person trapped by impulse or addiction or
just bad consequences isn't really free, are they?
Speaker 1 (14:46):
No?
Speaker 2 (14:47):
But the person who uses that pause, who asks the
questions before they leap, even if it's just for ten seconds,
that person is actively shaping their own future. They're claiming
their freedom.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
So the final thought is, don't wait until you're the
person looking out the window filled with regret, watching your
past self walk into disaster.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Right the wisdom you build now, the questions you internalize today,
that becomes the strength you'll desperately need when temptation or
pressure hits later.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Start now, question everything, especially your own impulses. Guard that
heart carefully, your future, your freedom really does depend on it.
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