Use Socratic questioning to test each belief

Interrogate every claim with “how do I know this is true?” until only bedrock remains.

Why it works

Systematic questioning works because beliefs that feel obvious often rest on no examined evidence. Asking for the grounds of each claim surfaces the unsupported links in the chain, and the chain is only as strong as its weakest unexamined assumption. The questioning is what converts a vague confidence into either real grounding or a discarded belief.

How to do it

1. For a key belief, ask: how do I know this? What is the evidence?
2. Ask what would have to be true for it to be false, and whether that’s the case.
3. Trace the answer down until you hit something genuinely foundational, then stop.

Evidence

Socratic questioning is an established method in philosophy and is used in clinical settings (notably CBT) to examine the evidence for beliefs. As a first-principles tool it is mechanistic, but the questioning technique itself has clinical pedigree. (mechanistic)

The clinical evidence is for CBT contexts (testing distorted beliefs), not for first-principles problem-solving specifically.

Sources

• Socratic method in philosophy; use of Socratic questioning in cognitive behavioral therapy

Common mistake

Asking the questions rhetorically and accepting the first comfortable answer, rather than actually following the chain down to something you can defend.