Who taught Thales?

Who Taught Thales? Cracking the Code of the OG Philosopher

Thales of Miletus. The name might not ring a bell for everyone, but trust me, this guy is a big deal. We’re talking about the “father of Western philosophy,” one of the OG thinkers, and a dude so smart they put him in the “Seven Sages” club of ancient Greece. He wasn’t just philosophizing; he was doing math, stargazing, and trying to figure out how the whole universe ticked. So, who taught him? That’s the million-dollar question, and the answer is…well, it’s complicated.

See, back in the 6th century BC, things weren’t like they are today. You didn’t exactly have schools with report cards and graduation ceremonies. Formal education, when it existed, was usually reserved for the male elite, not slaves. So, the idea of Thales having a single, dedicated “teacher” like your high school math instructor? Probably not. Instead, it’s more likely he soaked up knowledge from a bunch of different sources. Think of it as a DIY education, ancient style.

One strong possibility? Egypt. Egypt was the Silicon Valley of the ancient world when it came to math and geometry. And Miletus, Thales’s hometown, had a pretty solid connection to Egypt, with its own colony there. So, picture Thales hopping on a boat, heading down the Nile, and picking up all sorts of cool tricks from Egyptian priests – surveying techniques, geometric secrets, the whole shebang. Proclus, a philosopher who came along later, even said Thales brought geometry from Egypt to Greece! I can almost see him now, scribbling diagrams in the sand, figuring out how to measure the distance of ships at sea using his newfound knowledge. Pretty cool, right?

But Egypt wasn’t the only game in town. Some folks think Thales might have also looked east, to Babylon. The Babylonians were seriously into astronomy, and they had this long-held belief that water was the source of everything. Sound familiar? It should! Thales is famous for saying that water is the fundamental substance of the universe. Coincidence? Maybe. But it makes you wonder. Plus, there’s the whole eclipse thing. Thales gets the credit for predicting a solar eclipse in 585 BC. That’s not something you just pull out of thin air; it probably involved some serious Babylonian-style astronomical calculations.

Of course, let’s not forget the obvious: Thales was a smart cookie. Really smart. He wasn’t just memorizing facts; he was thinking for himself, challenging old myths, and coming up with his own explanations for how the world worked. That kind of independent thinking is something you can’t really teach. It’s gotta come from within.

Now, here’s a fun twist: While we’re scratching our heads about who taught Thales, we do know who Thales taught: Anaximander. Anaximander, another brilliant mind from Miletus, took Thales’s ideas and ran with them, developing even more complex theories about the cosmos. So, in a way, Thales’s legacy lives on through his student.

So, what’s the final verdict? Who taught Thales? The truth is, there’s no single answer. It was probably a mix of Egyptian math, Babylonian astronomy, and, most importantly, his own insatiable curiosity and knack for figuring things out. He was a product of his time, a sponge soaking up knowledge from every available source. And that, my friends, is what made him the legend he is today. He wasn’t just a student; he was a pioneer, blazing a trail for all the philosophers who came after him. And that’s a pretty awesome legacy to have.