Plato visualized “ideal” cities that were strictly ruled at all levels of society by “philosopher kings.” This article discusses one from a later work.

If you look at almost any “utopia” in classic literature, including the prototype by Thomas More, you will usually find it reeks of totalitarianism.

This is a purely psychological phenomenon. It cannot be eliminated by either competence or integrity on the part of the researcher. Its why we have peer review and refereed publications; not because they’re always right, but because they are more likely to be right.

You can’t decide the truth by vote, and sometimes the maverick is right and the conventional wisdom is not.

But as a rule, he’s either insane or irrational. Neither condition is usually obvious to the one who suffers from it, and it is impossible to demonstrate it to the victim. But for the observer, the ferocity with which the petitioner insists on presenting his case, and the contempt he directs toward those who dare challenge him, is persuasive enough evidence on which to base a tentative judgement.

One is a guy who decides he should try to pet a growling dog.

The other is a guy who thinks the dog is a kitten, or that the dog isn’t really there.

Oh, you mean like going into business or politics? Or believing engaging in either can only do good?

You see, the human mind is not a highly optimized machine that is designed by evolution to work all the time at peak efficiency. It’s a hastily cobbled together collection of evolutionary accidents that has somehow managed to muddle through to its present state. It’s good at some things, bad at others, and inconsistent as hell. And no two are alike. It’s amazing how well it does work most of the time. In fact, its a wonder it works at all.

As Bob Dylan says, (perhaps in a different context);

“We’re all idiots babe, it’s a wonder we can even feed ourselves.”

Assuming he actually believed what he was teaching, of course. But in the context of his culture and occupation, his basic concepts didn’t interfere with his real life. Like the garden fairies.

Unfortunately, ideas founded on his concepts have done a lot of damage.

The societies visualized in Plato’s “Republic,” for example, are not someplace you’d want to live.

Also TB, wouldn’t your definition define Plato as insane?