You hold to many facts and opinions, yet you know little of yourself. Before you can learn, you'll have to first empty your tank" (Millman 15).
Socrates' first anecdote teaches Dan that although knowledge allows people to advance in studies, not knowing how to assess the knowledge is pointless. The knowledge Dan learns from his teachers at school, for example, constantly fills his mind with facts about history, science, math, and other subjects but what Dan fails to realize is that knowledge limits our tolerance. Because Dan accepts all the facts that come into his mind, there is no room for him to understand how he processes thoughts and ideas. Being clouded with useless prevents Dan from becoming a Peaceful Warrior, so Socrates decides to teach Dan how to "unlearn" all the knowledge he has accumulated throughout his life and understand body wisdom.
When a student loses his worksheet, for example, he goes to his teacher, telling him or her some story on how the paper got lost or stolen, and asks for a new copy. After hearing the story, the teacher says "I already did my job. Now you have a problem and want me to fix it for you? You lucky I can't fail my students for being pussies." This example relates to another lesson Socrates teaches Dan. When Dan returned to Socrates' gas station, he began to complain about his friends, noticing how everyone started acting different around him. Listening to Dan's complaint, Socrates explains to him that he needs to start taking responsibility for what happens in his life and stop blaming others. He then explains this idea with a story: I once knew a guy like you [.] . . . Every day, Sam would open his lunch pail and start to complain. 'Son of a gun!' he'd cried, 'not peanut butter and jelly sandwiches again. I hate peanut butter and jelly!' He whined about [his sandwiches] day after day after day until one of the guys on the work crew final said, 'Fer crissakes, Sam, if you hate peanut butter and jelly so much, why don't you just tell ter ol' lady to make you something different?' 'What do you mean, my ol' lady?' Sam replied.
