What does "Deny Ignorance" mean?

[Anna]

There's something to it, though. A paradox. How do you create free thinkers, as a deliberate endeavour? You can't just tell them what to think, present a worldview to them as truth, and expect them to "get it". Or even slyly lead them their with social pressure. That's not freethinking, that's tyranny. The child only becomes as strong and as independent as their ideological dependencies allow.

Ignorance must be swept away from within, as a personal quest and choice. So perhaps Socrates was encouraging that, as an exploration of the ultimate uselessness of rhetoric. Exploring the ground of subjectivity and illusion, as contrast to the path of truth each individual must find for themselves, on their own.

Ultimately, life is the only true teacher. You gain knowledge by gaining experience. This is not to say that reading or theoretical discussion is without any value. It has some value because you have only one life and obviously you can't experience everything. But no questioning or theoretical examination will truly replace the knowledge that comes from experience.

But then again, it has its limitations too. Plenty of stupid people out there who lived through a lot of things and haven't learned anything.