Why I Call Myself Socrates

My name is Nikola Danaylov and I am the one who dares to call himself Socrates.

This is not an alias I have deliberately or consciously chosen myself.

Nor is it one I have always embraced because it rarely serves me well.

For as long as I can remember I have been referred to as a black-sheep; a contrarian; a misfit; an opposition; a nail that sticks out [and ends up getting hammered]; a problem-man; a man who’s always questioning; an unreasonable man; a do-it-my-way kind of a weirdo; a stubborn mule who enjoys the thorns and the whip more than going peacefully along the beaten path; a can’t-go-with-the-main-stream and can’t-fit-well-in-any-group type of a guy.

A natural outsider and/or an outcast.

A gadfly.

Being this way is not something I necessarily chose or always enjoy. But rather who I’ve always been. Even when I’ve tried my best to fit the standard mold and tow the established line I have always ended up failing and on the other side, often worse off than if I’ve simply started there.

It is why I’ve made mistakes. [And hopefully gotten to learn from them.]

It is why I’ve had people notice and remember me both in a good and a bad way since kindergarten; why I barely made it through high school; why I was sent to a punishment unit when I was in the Army; why my university record had not only exceptionally good but also a couple of exceptionally bad grades as well; why I did not pursue a PhD; why I failed to find a job after my Master’s Degree and why I am largely unemployable today.

It is also why I started Singularity Weblog and why I have not given up on it after giving it everything I’ve got for 15 years and trying to do it my way, yet again.

It is why so far I’ve failed [or refused] to monetize my blog and my podcast in the usual ways – by advertising, a freemium model, a paywall, a teaching fee, a corporate sponsor, a membership site, or by simply selling it to the highest bidder.

Why I’ve turned down several blog sponsorships, partnerships, acquisitions, and TV-show concepts.

I am in love with learning and yet somehow I seem to have refused to learn the most basic and fundamental lessons that wiser and more successful people have tried to impart to me all my life.

I am not sure if I am more stubborn or more stupid. Either way, it is who I am: an imperfect human being bent on staying true to himself. [And willing to look bad, be broke, or become unpopular, if that be the price.]

And so I don’t plan to become someone different: it is not someone else I want to be and, in all likelihood, it is not someone else I really can be.

Rather, I’d like to be just more of who I am – just a little better version of myself. Every day.

And that is why I have embraced the Socrates moniker – it reminds me of who I hopefully am and who I aspire to be. [As well as the level of steadfast commitment I have to possess and the price I have to be prepared to pay for daring to be one.]

Socrates was the one person I know of who fits perfectly pretty much all the adjectives and personal descriptions I have been called all my life.

Socrates was also the one who refused to become a “sophist” – or a prostitutor of wisdom as he called them. Instead he eked a living from the generosity of his followers just as I have largely been fortunate to do so far.

Socrates is who I was born to be and who I am.

Socrates is who I want to and have chosen to be!

And so I will be. Hopefully not only for me but also for you…