The challenge is to invite three people - historical, deceased, or living - to a dinner party. Who would I invite? That's a pretty tall order. There are currently over 5 billion people living on the planet, most of whom are not related to me. Somehow I will need to whittle away nearly all of them.
But wait! There's more! Historical figures count, too. I cannot begin to fathom how many people must have ever been created and born in the history of the world. 10 Billion? More? That's more people than even Zsa Zsa Gabor has married.
There are a lot of interesting people in the world, and I'd love to pick the brain of more than just three of them, for sure. Yet, after having given this a weekends worth of thought, here are my three guests for my Saturday Night Dinner Party.
Socrates
How cool would it be to get to have a conversation with Socrates? Or maybe it wouldn't. I'd let him ask me about it, and then undoubtedly I'd be wrong. Still, it'd be fascinating.
Socrates was, of course, the father of western philosophical thought and inquiry. He taught Plato who, in turn, taught Aristotle, who tutored Alexander the Great. The ancient Greeks were responsible for devising democracy and citizenship, and Plato was right at the forefront of it. He was paid primarily to think and teach. That's pretty amazing, in an era of barely subsistence farming, to be able to employ something just to think and teach. He ended up doing his job too well and was ultimately sentenced to death for teaching the youth to think as well. Some things never change, I guess; it's fine to teach the young, as long as they're taught to accept the status quo and not question it.
Regardless, I'd love to hear whatever he has to say and think he'd have some amazing insights on the world around us now. I'd also like to ask what he thinks about his star student, Plato. Would he be proud, or would he consider his famous protege nothing more than an asshat? He'd definitely be at my dinner party, and I wouldn't feed him hemlock.
Robert Kain
I have absolutely no idea who Robert Kain is. I know he was born in Ireland in 1828 and died and was buried in Lancaster County in 1909.
The 19th century saw a number of amazing technological advances; the steam engine and railroads; the telegraph; bicycles; rubber; purple dye. This fellow would have lived through a major portion of the Industrial Revolution and, undoubtedly was effected by it.
I would like him at my dinner party just to hear what he has to say. I'd like to know what led him from Ireland to the US. How long did it take him to get here? Did he come with family? Was he a stowaway? When and where did he get married? What was his life like? Did he ever ride on a train? I am absolutely convinced that not only would his story be absolutely fascinating, but he'd have some incredibly profound insights on how to live life, as well. Having lived through the Industrial Revolution, would he be impressed or dismayed by our level of technological advancement today?
The Unknown Barista
Somewhere, sometime long ago, on some probably rainy and cold day in human history, someone, for the first time ever, got the idea to roast up some coffee beans, grind them up, and pour hot water over them to give us the beautiful, hot and life giving concoction we call coffee. I want to meet this person and give to them a toast for their contribution to humanity; a toast of coffee, to boot.
(c) All images and photographs, unless otherwise specified, are created and owned by me.
(c) Victor Wiebe
About Me
Amateur photographer. Wannabe author. Game designer. Nerd.
General all around problem-solver and creative type.
Blind Skeleton
Online Radio: https://victorwiebe.com/radio_wiebe
Friday Night Concert: 6:00pm EST