Third, the Socratic method is never likely to be popular because it doesn’t offer what most people think they want. The teachings of Socrates don’t propose to make anyone richer or more famous. They don’t offer rewards after death. They don’t answer the questions that torment us, and they don’t confirm that we’re right about what we already think. What the teachings do offer is wisdom, but this good thing is always bought at the price of some discomfort. The human appetite for wisdom, and its tolerance for discomfort, has never been great, in ancient times or ours.
