The Gift of Unending Discovery
Plato had inklings, not fixed ideas. from his inklings, he developed hypotheses which he tested in dialogue with others. In his dialogues, Socrates and the people he talks with make discoveries, but the objective is not to arrive at absolute truth. Rather he and his character Socrates seem fascinated by the process, the exercise, the experience of discovery, and the effort to improve his method of inquiry.
Through his dialogues, Plato explores how we think and why we think what we think, and how we can do so better. The mistakes and the wrongheadedness of the other characters are important. Otherwise, Plato would have cast those characters aside and written essays. The process matters more than the endpoint.
He could have written dozens of dialogues about the same “idea” and each could have been fresh and new and revelatory, thanks to the variety of mistakes encountered.
His idea of “ideas” is in constant flux. He savors and values the process of discovery more than the gems discovered.
Much of what I have read about Plato feels very different from the experience of reading what Plato wrote. The characters, their misconceptions, and their faulty thinking are important. Plato presents dramatic moments. He shows the process, not just the endpoint. These aren’t truths to be memorized. They are experiences to be shared and enjoyed.
If the universe — all that is — were simple and orderly, we would have evolved with brains that could understand it all from birth. And the human race might have died out from boredom.
Instead, we are continually tempted to strive to understand a reality that is vast and complex and messy, a reality tantalizingly beyond our ability to understand.
We find ourselves in an unknowable universe and with the need to know. That’s the gift of unending discovery.
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