A Humanistic and Socratic exploration of why we chase money, what our true needs are, and how to think critically about both personal and societal systems that shape that chase.
Socrates: Tell me, my friend, why do you want money?
Student: Because I need to pay my bills.
Socrates: And why do you need to pay your bills?
Student: Because if I don’t, I’ll lose my home, my food, my health care.
Socrates: And why would that be a problem?
Student: Because without those things, I could die.
Socrates: So what you truly need is not money itself, but food, water, shelter, and health.
Student: I suppose that’s true.
Socrates: Then why do you focus so much on money?
Student: Because that’s how I get those things.
Socrates: Is it the only way?
This is where Socratic questioning gets interesting.
When we take time to “go Socratic on ourselves,” we begin to separate real needs from proxy problems — the things we chase because we think they’ll solve the real problem.
Money is a proxy. It’s a means to an end, not the end itself.
When we forget that, we risk optimizing our lives around the wrong goal.
Thinking Beyond Proxies
When we ask why enough times, we eventually reach bedrock — our core human needs: survival, safety, belonging, purpose. Once we know what those needs really are, we can start thinking more creatively about how to meet them.
For example:
If the goal is water for your field, what can you do?
You could pray for rain.
You could irrigate the field.
You could do both.
But if you only pray and take no action, you leave the outcome to fate — and that is not the Humanist way. Humanism is about taking responsibility for outcomes through reason, compassion, and evidence-based action. We don't care if you pray - as long as you also take action to fix your problems, whatever they are.
Thinking Beyond the Individual
Once you apply this kind of questioning to your personal life, it’s natural to extend it to society.
Why do people lose their health care when they lose their jobs?
Because our system ties health care to employment.
Why do we tie health care to employment?
Because we’ve decided that’s how it should work.
Can we decide differently?
Yes.
That’s the power of Socratic questioning — it helps us see that many of our systems are not inevitable. They are choices we made, and we can make different ones.
This is just an example. My main point is that we need to know we have options if we are to seek those options out. Will those options be better than what we have now? I don't know. This is about exploring options and using critical thinking to help us think outside the box of the here and now to propose possible futures.
The Humanist Lesson
If you want to become more effective in your life — and as a citizen — practice this:
Ask why.
Why are you working on this problem? Why did you answer the way you did? Keep asking why until you identify what you are really trying to do and why you are trying to do it. You can stop when you get to the - if I don't do this - bad things will happen. That's when you've identified your real problem.
Follow the logic to its roots.
Identify your real need.
And then, take reasoned action to meet it.
The more we do this — individually and collectively — the better we get at solving real problems instead of chasing proxies. I use this method as a way to teach people the critical thinking skills they need to be more effective and strategic in their actions.
Critical thinking isn't just about making sure you are being logical and using science, though that is important. It is also the practice of self interrogation, so you can be more effective by helping focusing on your real problems
When we think critically and act compassionately, we don’t just survive — we thrive.
LEARN MORE
I teach the Socratic method as part of my courses on critical thinking and reality based decision making.
If you want to learn more about reality based decision making and all the critical thinking skills that can help you be more effective - take this course: https://humanistlearning.com/realitybaseddecisionmaking/
I also have a course about the socratic method as a way to win arguments without arguing. But this is one of those - it's way deeper than just - winning arguments sorts of courses. https://humanistlearning.com/socratic-jujitsu/
Finally - if you want to learn more about how to control your responses, like triggered responses so you can choose to respond strategically, take this course. https://humanistlearning.com/mastering-the-five-managerial-superpowers/
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