ABSTRACT

Legend has it that that Socrates once plunged his student’s head (some say this was Plato) under water until he turned blue. Plato had come to Socrates to ask him for knowledge. Socrates walked the student to the sea, waited until the water was shoulder height and then plunged the boy underwater. The student kicked and fought until he turned blue, at which point Socrates grabbed him and pulled him up. Most vice chancellors now disapprove of lecturers who regularly waterboard their students, but most heads of department will turn a blind eye to a bit of light “ducking”. The point is that there is a great difference between wanting something and truly needing it. All of this whilst managing being mixed race in the 1840s. In fact, his father’s nickname in the army was “the black devil”.