On page 135 of the textbook Psychological Counselor (Level 3), when talking about the operation process of rational emotional therapy, it is given that the main method of debating with irrational beliefs is Socrates' debating technique, that is, the so-called "midwifery" debating method. I didn't think about it carefully when I was studying this course at that time. Why is Socrates' debating technique also called "midwifery"?
Recently, when I was reading Judith S. Beck's book "The Basis and Application of Cognitive Therapy" on page 24 1, I mentioned that Socratic questioning was used to correct my beliefs, and I remembered this question again. Yes, why is Socratic debate also called "midwifery"?
I looked it up, and the reason is very interesting.
The basic principle of Socratic debate is to let you speak your own views first, then reason according to your views, and finally lead to the fallacies in your views, so that you can realize the unreasonable places in your previous cognition and actively correct them. This process is similar to Socrates' mother's work as a midwife. They all help others to have children, and the result is a knowledge conclusion or the birth of a child. This is the origin of the concept of "midwifery".
For example, because of various reasons in the growing environment, some children become perfect and are required to do well in every exam, which adds a lot of pressure to themselves. Over time, when they are really overwhelmed by something, or fail, they will have serious frustration and negative emotions. If we use Socrates' debating technique to guide him, we can face his absolutely unreasonable belief that he will succeed, and use various sentence patterns and logical reasoning such as "as you say" and "therefore" to finally let him find out the irrationality of his belief and use the child's spear as a shield for attack. Often children can relax their study and life and achieve their goals after putting down these unreasonable beliefs and burdens.
Socrates' debating technique is very similar to Confucius' "If you don't get angry, you will be powerful; if you don't get angry, you will be sad; if you don't get angry, you will be yourself". In other words, don't enlighten him until he tries to understand and can't get it; Don't inspire him until he knows it in his heart but can't express it perfectly. This is a typical heuristic education model. This kind of education mode is that teachers are persuasive and students discover the mysteries in the knowledge world step by step, and the effect is much better than cramming teaching.
I still remember when I was in primary school, my math teacher told me the formula of multiplication, and asked us to sum up the formula of multiplication ourselves: 2 * 9 = 18, and then 27, 36, 45, 54 ... When my friends discovered the rules themselves, they were as excited as discovering the new continent, and of course their enthusiasm for learning mathematics would be high. Reciting multiplication formula is a very pleasant thing.
Heuristic education impresses students because they are always curious. They think they will be particularly impressed if they find a conclusion. In addition, people are narcissistic to a certain extent, and they find more than others tell you directly, which is self-affirmation and a greater sense of accomplishment.