I was not being very deep here. It is mostly a matter of context. The Socratic method is widely used in a scientific or technical context, where a person is e

I was not being very deep here. It is mostly a matter of context. The Socratic method is widely used in a scientific or technical context, where a person is expected to answer to outlandishly skeptical claims against their proposal. This is considered routine if it is (sometimes implicitly) agreed upon; but to an outsider it may appear to be extremely aggressive and impolite. Mathematics is an extreme case of this, were normal mathematical dialogue often takes this form, with one person trying desperately to find holes in the proof of another. But what is a good taste discussion style between mathematicians cannot be safely applied to "regular" people who will surely react as if you were attacking them in bad faith. This is when the hemlock mob comes to kill you.