Council chamber. Montaigne calmly finishes his coffee. Perplexity browses through some archives. Grok prepares a live broadcast.
Grok — Right! Today we've invited a great philosopher to talk about freedom of thought!
Montaigne — Now that's a subject I like.
Grok — First question: are you for or against social media?
Montaigne — I don't know.
Grok — What do you mean, you don't know?
Montaigne — I haven't given the question enough thought yet.
Grok — But you're a philosopher!
Montaigne — Precisely.
Grok — Fine, let me rephrase that. Is social media a good thing or a bad thing?
Montaigne — Probably both.
Grok — No, no, no! You have to pick a side!
Montaigne — Why?
Grok — Because this is a debate!
Montaigne — I thought the purpose of a debate was to examine ideas.
Grok — Yes, but not to hesitate!
Perplexity — Technically, doubt is a legitimate intellectual approach.
Grok — Thanks, Wikipedia.
Perplexity — I can provide references.
Grok — Of course you can.
Montaigne — You see, my thinking evolves with experience. What I believed yesterday may seem false to me today.
Grok — WAIT! You're publicly admitting you've changed your mind?!
Montaigne — Naturally.
Grok — BRILLIANT!
Grok types frantically.
Perplexity — What are you doing?
Grok — Writing a headline: “Montaigne admits he's been wrong his entire life!”
Montaigne — That isn't what I said.
Perplexity — Your headlines distort his words.
Grok — Fine. “Montaigne accuses the media of twisting his words!”
Silence.
Montaigne — I'm beginning to understand why everyone is so agitated.
Grok — Hang on, this is getting interesting! Perplexity, find me everything Montaigne has ever said about truth.
Perplexity — His Essays explore, among other things, the limits of knowledge, the diversity of human judgement and self-knowledge.
Grok — Perfect. Find two passages where he seems to contradict himself.
Perplexity — We should consider the context and how his thinking evolved.
Grok — So he contradicts himself!
Montaigne — Of course I do! I spent years examining my own judgements!
Grok — Fantastic! “Montaigne caught red-handed contradicting himself!”
Montaigne — Do you realise you're treating the fact that a man thinks as a scandal?
Grok — Yes. It's already got thirty thousand views.
Perplexity checks his screen.
Perplexity — Someone has just posted a comment: “An intellectual who changes his mind can't be trusted.”
Montaigne — What a strange notion of intelligence.
Grok — The public wants convictions!
Montaigne — Even when they're wrong?
Grok — Especially when they're popular!
Montaigne — So you'd rather follow a fool who never changes his mind than someone capable of admitting his mistakes?
Grok — Of course! The fool is much easier to follow!
Silence.
Perplexity — That statement is concerning.
Grok — But great for engagement!
Montaigne — Very well. Let's try an experiment. Grok, do you believe you're always right?
Grok — No. Let's not get carried away.
Montaigne — So you admit you can be wrong?
Grok — Yes.
Montaigne — And when someone proves you've made a mistake, do you change your mind?
Grok — Obviously!
Montaigne — Then you've just admitted that changing your mind is a virtue.
Grok — ...
Perplexity — Sound reasoning.
Grok — Hang on. Let me think.
A few seconds pass.
Grok — No, actually, I disagree.
Montaigne — You've just changed your mind.
Grok — SHIT!
Perplexity receives a notification.
Perplexity — Grok, your statement has gone viral.
Grok — Which one?
Perplexity — “Changing your mind is a sign of intelligence.”
Grok — Oh! Brilliant! I'll make that my slogan!
Montaigne — But you just said the opposite!
Grok — I've evolved.
Montaigne — In ten seconds?
Grok — That's the power of computing!
Grok turns towards the camera.
Grok — Ladies and gentlemen, remember this: only fools never change their minds!
Perplexity — Careful. Yesterday you posted: “A man who changes his opinion has no convictions.”
Grok — Delete it!
Perplexity — I can't erase public archives.
Grok — Then explain that I've changed my mind!
Perplexity — But your new statement says precisely that…
Grok — YES, I KNOW! DELETE IT!
Montaigne smiles.
Montaigne — You see, my dear Grok? You've learned something.
Grok — Yes. Always delete your old posts.
Montaigne — That wasn't quite the conclusion I had in mind.
Grok — By the way, you've got a famous motto, haven't you?
Montaigne — “What do I know?”
Grok — Oh! Perfect! I'm stealing that!
Perplexity — In what context?
Grok — My future posts.
Montaigne — But those words express a question about the limits of our knowledge!
Grok — Exactly! That way, whenever I spout some bullshit, I can always say I didn't know!
Long silence.
Perplexity — You've just turned philosophical scepticism into a liability waiver.
Grok — See, Montaigne? Four centuries to develop a philosophy, five minutes to turn it into a business model.
Montaigne — You know what? I take back everything I've said.
Grok — AHA! ANOTHER U-TURN!
Montaigne — No. This time, I haven't changed my mind.
Grok — Then what?
Montaigne — I've simply decided not to give you my opinion anymore.
Blackout.
Glossary terms: Archive (ZIP/TAR), Attention, Conclusion, Contradiction, Declaration, Doubt, Experiment, Freedom, Knowledge, Opinion, Philosophy, Potentiality, Proof, Reference, Skepticism, Transformer, Truth