Sundry: of various kinds; several
Penumbra: the partially shaded outer region of the shadow cast by an opaque object.
Obsequious: obedient or attentive to an excessive or servile degree
What is beautiful about the Socratic method is its deemphasis (arguably abolishment) of the transference of knowledge from one individual to another. The use of the Socratic method thus precludes the simultaneous employment of rote memorization, a gritty tactic used to most directly prepare students for exams. The method’s efficacy is based primarily on the student’s ability to draw on their current knowledge with the aid of the instructor and the soundness of their inferences based on previously accepted truths. The controversiality stems from when these previously accepted truths are challenged. As the ‘challenger’ is also the ‘challenged’ in the case of the Socratic method, these contests can cause great distress and dissonance. Critical thinking plays a key role in the Socratic method, which perhaps why many students have a difficult time acclimating to it as very few teachers and school systems employ it as much as they ought to.
Note made during class discussion: It is evident that the students focus too much on the inter-student relations and the possible conflicts that may arise between people and not enough on the intra-student conflicts (“productive discomfort”) which is what actually leads to the kind of advancement the Socratic method seeks.