01 - Socrates on Self-Confidence - Philosophy: A Guide to Happiness 

What a brilliant man. He TRULY changed HUMANITY. May there be more men like Socrates, and our world will surely be a better place to live. Socrates passed his beliefs to us, let us now pass it to this and many more generations to come. Never forget this man and may he Rest In Piece.

Love the metaphore in the end, with the philosopher driving the sheep apart with his bike.

wow just finished watching this, i started to cry so much respect for him, can you image the courage of a man who has a wife who he loves and he stood for what he believed even to his death. thats just incredible. thank you for posting this

You can never stamp out truth or free spirit, many have tried and yet most of us know who Socrates is even to this day, the truth will never die

Im so thankfull for these videos. They help me so much with my mental life, with my perspective of things.

REAL TALK: I'm basically a total loser with no friends, I spend all day on the computer. I haven't had the faintest idea of how I'm ever supposed to get out of this, as it seems impossible to make friends when you don't have any. Watching this has given me an idea: go up to strangers, and literally just ask them questions as done in this video. Who cares if some look at you odd? If they think you're weird? You're guaranteed to meet interesting people.

Just because the majority supported an opinion does it make it right.

Alain De Botton is close in his line of thinking to the ancient Greeks and we can see the clarity of his ideas in his wonderful videos. He is another light in this dark world of man. He sees the large picture not just certain truths that may be common, nice proverbs on the wall people hardly actually follow practically. He came from a wealthy family but didn't follow in a path of decadence and indulgence as many celebrities today do. He could be born anywhere and stand out. I feel humbled.

Hi spookybuk =), Thank you for taking the time and effort to both upload and share this video with the youtube family. I hope you have a nice day! =).

Our opinions are unreliable, they change all the time, because of the impermanence of things, eliminating our ego, we will notice that we dont need to be right all the time.

The best quote I ever read: " If you are so smart, why are you so poor?" Those great and wise people were broke and lived very miserable lives. One classic example was Da Vinci; he was almost naked, no money, no power, no friends. You have the obligation to know what kind of information and knowledge is sellable, practical and profitable. Work without rewards is STUPID.

I studied sociology and my lecturer always added enough of philosophical content, to train us this way of thinking and the kind of texts. I really had to reread it multiple times to get to the core of many texts because I had never read such texts in school. My lecturer comes from Vienna they already read those texts in school. Thats a major advantage. Children really should be trained in reading this from an early age.

It is good to recognize when the impulse to do something is YOURS and when it is SOMEONE ELSE'S. There is, however, more to being truly happy. In addition to the great suggestions made by the next couple videos (I haven't seen the whole series), I would state that seeing people with worse problems than you has been valuable to me. It really helps me to realize that I'm not the WORST OFF person in the world! (Not that I get a kick out of other peoples' misfortunes! It just helps.)

This is great, and I wish everyone in the world would watch this. When the swaths of people go on not challenging their beliefs and opinions, we all end up paying severely in the end for it. We need more thinkers like Socrates, and not only that but a society responsive to those beliefs as well. The cult of personality is far too prevalent I'm afraid.

I agree with you on that. It are not the written and spoken words that form someones way of thinking, but the actions people(here it includes spoken words too in some cases) around you undertake which lead to certain experiences. Written and spoken words can broaden the perspective when people are open to new ideas and possibly willing to accept them if they are reasonable.

Really Excellent! The message that I took away: We can each stop being a sheep and become a thinking person.

True. I find out quite often that what I read is what I've already learnt. For me, instead of learning from it I confirm what I already know. When you experience things first hand, you actually mean what you say and believe in it too. No amount of reading will ever be enough to replace real life experiences.

Philosophy is the light that points the way for our mind to find its way out of the darkness that is perceived reality.

i know to use the socratic logic , i discovered it by accident after being study philosophy for a long time and discusing with different people , it only takes practice and for me it's the most powerfull method ant it is always open to discuss everthing. this method makes you more inteligent than the rest.

Socrates was born 2500years ago. Today: 2012 Time: 09:20 Location: Bangkok This is my morning lecture. Just finished the coffee. Merci soopybuk.

Alain de bottom you rock!

This gave me so much to think about. Maybe many of those who have watched this and commented on it missed the true meaning of what Socrates was saying. But then, maybe they are not being sheep and believing this as I did. Hail to the freedom of speech and opinions.

Love this when our guide starts engaging people on the street in conversation. It validates my own favorite past time of hollering at cute ladies in public, chit chat. If one trods this trail too capriciously, they find it's very easy to tred into being percieved as creepy, confrontational or an ass-hole! It's truly for the bold, but there's no other rush quite like it because if you talk as if everything is accessible to you, it's very cathartic.

what an inspiring video; thanks

I felt so gratified when the lady said she didn't understand english and he started talking to her in french. I want to learn languages

I love this video!

When asked "What does justice mean?" the french tourist answered : "I'm not from here,I'm in holiday".... I'm ashamed to be French, from now on I'm Swiss.

Watching in 2020... still interesting!

How can he ride that motorbike without a helmet - that valuable brain!!!

Beautiful succinct little work

Thanks ! Very detailed.

Beauty is deceptive wisdom is a tree of life

Great stuff... thanks for showing it.

Very good film!!! Thanks!

good one...

This is so awesome

I am taking this class about Philosophy .

Beautifully said, my friend.Yes,you are right, however I guess I was aiming for a more general meaning. But,logically its not very accurate. He contributed such extraordinaire.Sometimes I wonder, if there would be another man who would have Socrates's ambition and attributes,but then I return to reality and realize such thoughts can never be. The saying, One in a Million,is sheerly dedicated to this genius. Our humble world wouldn't be the same,without his existence. Thank you for your reply!

Congrats. Just be yourself- that alone is a great achievement.

YES! Nice, thanks buddy.

well said!

The bass in my earphones at the beginning of this video was sick!

Thank you for sharing:)

This was pretty much implied into what I said but it's also very true.

‘Most of us stand poised at the edge of brilliance, haunted by the knowledge of our proximity, yet still demonstrably on the wrong side of the line.’ Alain de Botton, The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work (2009) Most of us stand poised at the edge of understanding the truth, not quite grasping that the daily accessing of the genius, and more, capabilities of the intelligence we each received at the moment of our creation is the process for accessing knowledge which proximates our empirically perspectivized knowledge with the truth that we feel our perception elucidates. ‘...our dealings with reality undermined by a range of minor yet critical psychological flaws (a little too much optimism, an unprocessed rebelliousness, a fatal impatience or sentimentality).’ Alain de Botton, The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work (2009) Our dealings with the reality of our perception are undermined by a range of moderate, yet overcomable, perspective flaws (vested-ness in information only masquerading as the truth, which both reside as clutter within our subconscious mind, and as a daily bombardment of biases and undue influences from the culture which surrounds each one of us.) ‘We are like an exquisite high-speed aircraft which for lack of a tiny part is left stranded beside the runway, rendered slower than a tractor or bicycle.’ Alain de Botton, The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work (2009) We humans possess genius, and more, capabilities of intelligence, which for lack of a tiny piece of individual understanding, leaves us stranded beside the highway of life, rendered stupider and slower by our free will choices to only meet the ‘average’ to ‘stupid’ levels of the norms and expectations of the culture in which we are compelled to exist to survive. Seek Truth. Seek Your Truth. Experience the happier-ness of accessing the Whole Truth. And then you’ll know. That is the truth. I am an everyman, if I can do it, anyone can.

Nice sentiment.May I suggest you have a re look. This place is a school, and Soc was a professor. He was (is) part of an unbroken line of such professors. The "better place to live", is not as a result of the school changing its purpose, but one's developing the potential of their own consciousness. "Rest in peace" ..he would love that. No rest for such masters..just a continual growing source of love.;

Australia man. It's the new center of philosophy. They take it pretty seriously down there; it's in the education system and everything. I know it's a small sample, but the Aussies here were giving the most adequate answers

That pottery is mesmerizing..

I love it

I did not choose to be a philosopher because I believed it would make me happy. I wanted to think about what was important. That appealed to me more than anything else since I was about 10 or 11. I did not question that choice. It seemed self evident that both thinking and serious matters were all that really mattered. At seventy, I have not changed my mind.

Your right, Alexander Hamilton was the one most fearful of mob rule. Although misquoted and mis-associated, it is a good and accurate quote, even if the accurate source can't be agreed upon.

This reminds me of an episode of Malcolm in the Middle where there's like a 7 year old genius boy who comes into the Krelboyne classroom, and Malcolm gets tutored by him later. Malcolm: "I mean for me it's like when I'm thinking really hard my brain starts making connections and those connections make other connections and it feels like a bomb going off. Is your brain like that?" Barton: "It's more like a beehive and every bee has a brain like yours."

What music is playing at 00:22 ? The riff is so cool, just like the video itself.

I'd agree with you that life experience is the best way to learn. But, comparing your personal experiences against others similar experiences (feelings, solutions, conclusions) gives you some perspective on your own experiences and the conclusions you've made.It's not always easy to go up to someone and ask such personal questions however, with libraries and book stores we have access to many people throughout our world's history who were willing to share. In my opinion. Cheers!

I am debating on whether when I return to college, choosing Philosophy as a second major. I love the subjects and being able to not conform blindly but to truly us my mind for understanding/finding certain truths. The difficulty I have about choosing this major is getting lost in thoughts without purpose or getting caught into rants that go nowhere but to just point how little we all know and understand. I am believer in the Christian philosophy, it's living purpose. I believe that this major will help me understand this faith deeper. I am not afraid to let my mind explore other beliefs BUT I have seen many who get lost not satisfied with unanswered thought/truths. From my honors philosophy course, it seems as though this is the goal of professors is to put someone in this lost state as a goal (rite of passage perhaps) so one can think more diverse which I think would be important to better construct thought but not a destination. However, I am not about to abandon my beliefs through this process. I have felt the most peace and true happiness from it. My religion teaches that truth can be found everywhere and are invited to gain this truth and bring it into our lives. I am LDS. Any feedback is good.

Hey everybody, I want theme music in this video in 0.20-0.41 what or where i can get it ? thank.

Beings smart enough to observe other beings from space on a planet that is not 'their own' suggests that they would understand that we simply are creatures, whatever name they give us is irrelevant, as is the one we give ourselves.

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with reality, existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Studying about something doesn't make anyone happy unless they find the answers to the problems. I believe it will actually make one less happy. Unless someone is willing to change their beliefs, values, & reasons for existence, then they shouldn't pursue this field. Those changes can be very painful if one isn't honest enough to allow the changes to take place.

23:30 OMFG ROFL im legit crying that is the funniest ending credits iv ever seen

I agree with you very much!You know whats funny we have the same last name.

i feel you! because were the same...

What is the outro music for this video, roughly starting at 21:20? Would love to listen to it.

thank you, now I understand, I must be related to Socrates, people do not like people who reveal their shallowness and hypocrisy, especially vain and arrogant wealthy power people who uses their intelligent for their own self interest regardless of who they trample, it is always easy to prevail when one is prepared to do what ever it takes to win. might makes right. makes a person wish that there was a God, but because there isn't one, powerful people will exploit peoples beliefs to get what they want, and what do people want but more wealth, power and fame. vanity is vanity. it is what motivates some to achieve some status of respect thru materialism.

if you want to make friends, try to find people with common interests and pursuits who you can (be of service to/benefit) by helping THEM achieve their interests/goals, if, in the process, you also benefit, even better.

I ask people questions constantly, and get many of the same sorts of reactions. I don't fully understand why anyone would be very offended by a question, especially when i try to make it as open ended as possible.

this is true...

Well spotted t/g. :-). One aspect of wisdom, is to know the limit of the intellect.(yet another example of that of a great servant but a bad master)

Exactly, you don't have to have logic and commen sense to win.. just the will of the majority.. just gotta convince them ur right

Happiness is being able to think and live a healthy life.

How does this statement encourage the philosopher in us all? I like him, because he seems to genuinely care about raising awareness of our own perceptive capacities; hence, the video.

Think for yourself question authority. Think for yourself question authority.

best part is the music at the start

Education and Intelligence are two very different things. Since there is so much that goes into psychologically determining the make up of an individuals thought process, you can't rightly say there are stupid or smart people, generally speaking of course. There are only those whose decision of what to question, what to think on, and what to act on, all differ.

Pardon me, at first I thought your last statement made sense, but are there possible exceptions? Could reading material be even more valuable than life experiences? I think it could and often is, especially if it is derivative of much life experience and scientific proof. Did you consider that reading itself is also a life experience? With those thoughts I'd stress how important it is to find the correct reading material. What might be a better question: How do we find the best reading material?

im12 and understood most of this... wow

There is a level of "group" consciousness that searches for wisdom (philosophy), and a level whereby the individual discovers it. Socrates was not searching (he knew), and was facilitating others search.

Wisdom is subject to the law of confirmation, as opposed to the intellect, which accumulates information.

Maybe in your life experience books where more significant to you. As much as you can learn from a book, first hand experience is your own personal experience. My own principal back in high school told me there was around 70% of people who learnt from first hand better than by theory. I still accept books as a major form of influence but I personally start understanding things deeply after I can shape them from my own experiences.

I take Socrates as a critic of ideology.

The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.

depend on what is your concept of "ingeligent"

What's that music in the end?

Well when describing color we are talking about people who are able to see the color spectrum. Obviously blind people can't see, but that doesn't mean the moon is not white.

11 days sober and I'm going to learn philosophy so i can build cottage to say and do what i mean.

supposed to discuss this in class.. not sure if the teacher's the uploader

Is this a video adaptation of his Consolations of Philosophy?

Did this guy do a TED talk?

Прикольное видео! мне понравилось, молодец!) Вообще уважаю труд тех кто делает видео, и ведет свои каналы. Я сама веду канал и знаю, как это непросто - записывать ролики. Не останавливайся, продолжай!

As an ugly person, I have found this video strangely reaffirming.

5:40 His comment reminds me of the movie "12 Angry Men"

Ignoring the amount of negative votes I have received, I shall tell you that it is because he related science with philosophy. He was an amazing mathematician and scientist, and a very smart person nonetheless, but he was not a philosopher. At the time though, such studies seemed extravagant and like philosophy. Thank you for acknowledging my opinion in a non-angry way though. :)

What is justice? It just is.

There's a difference between fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence. The latter is much easier to improve. Fluid intelligence can be increased to an extent through various exercises, but you're basically stuck with what you're born with. No amount of work is going to enable an ordinary person to make theoretical innovations like Einstein, compose like Beethoven, or write like Shakespeare.

12:21 praanjili is in the video

...in other words..that dude Socrates ,didn't give a crap what other people thought .

Alain αλάνι!

this guy has dual accents , french and british ;)

I have my own philosophy on happiness I wonder if theirs is similar to mine.

What would be a popular statement of common sense?

How'd it go?