Socrates was an ancient Greek philosopher who lived in Athens around 400 BCE and changed how people think about thinking itself. Instead of lecturing people about what they should believe, Socrates walked around the marketplace asking questions. He would approach someone who claimed to be wise and start asking them to explain what they meant, then gently point out contradictions in their answers. Through this questioning, Socrates showed that many people who seemed confident didn't really understand what they were talking about.

This approach became known as the Socratic method, and teachers still use it today. Instead of just giving you answers, a teacher using the Socratic method asks you questions that help you discover the answer yourself. It's like how a coach might ask, “What do you think went wrong in that last play?” instead of just telling you what to fix.

Socrates never wrote anything down. Much of what we know about him comes from his student Plato's writings. Socrates is said to have believed that the unexamined life wasn't worth living, meaning that people should question their own beliefs and actions rather than just accepting what they're told.