Socratize Me

I remember reading a Louisiana Bar Association pamphlet during law school orientation. Meant to, in theory, assuage any concerns an incoming 1L student might have, the pamphlet actually scared me silly. It referred to something known as the “Socratic Method,” which, the pamphlet promised, would become something I would develop a perverse enjoyment for, if I believe that what doesn’t kill me can make me stronger [italics meant to be a paraphrase]. How encouraging.

My fellow 1Ls agree that Prof. Crimlaw’s teaching method most resembles what we had understood to be the Socratic Method. I had been dreading getting “called on” by Prof. Crimlaw for this reason. Well, it happened today. And he didn’t even call me by my correct name, at first.

What ensued, though, was much better than what I had expected and more invigorating than I could have foreseen. With every proceeding question he asked, I found myself digging into the textbook, perusing my case brief, scraping the bottom of my mind to formulate something with which to answer him. It was an experience that caused my senses to be aroused to a heightened state, much like what I imagine Peter Parker experienced in Spiderman: the high school hallway scene where in one millisecond, he can perceive drops of sweat and buzzing flies, every minute detail around him. It amounted to a conversation between student and professor across the classroom, with an air of shouting match.

Call me Will Smith’s character in The Pursuit of Happyness, but this is a part of my life. And this part of my life, today, was called “pleasant surprise.” I seem to have had a positive experience with Socrates on the front-end of law school (whew!). Yet I am trying to not be self-deceived. As fellow classmate One Elle said, “Before the semester is over, all of us will fall flat on our face [in oral responses in class].” Mr. Elle has attended law school previously, unlike most of us, so I’ll take his word for it.

I Wiki-searched Socrates to figure out what the Socratic method is: “[A] series of questions are posed to help a person or group to determine their underlying beliefs and the extent of their knowledge. The Socratic method is a negative method of hypothesis elimination, in that better hypotheses are found by steadily identifying and eliminating those which lead to contradictions .” ”Socrates,” Wikipedia. Of course, as my dad, an attorney who is “proof that there is life after law school” reminds me, one shouldn’t worry about professors’ fascination with Socratization. After all, Dad reminds me, “You know what they did to Socrates? They made him drink poison!”

But enough of that. I have some studying to do. And this is the part of my life I call … “outlining.”

More on that, later. As well as study groups.
P.S. Pardon the movie reference earlier. But that was a great movie my wife and I watched this weekend past. If I were to cry during a movie, The Pursuit of Happyness would be near the top of my list.