The man who first asked "why?"

The man who first asked "why?"

Thales of Miletus, 623~545 BC

The sky above the bustling city of Miletus was painted in shades of gold and crimson as the sun dipped below the horizon. Merchants shouted their final offers, children chased each other through the narrow streets, and the scent of roasted olives filled the air. But amidst the daily chaos, one man stood apart from the crowd-not because he was rich or powerful, but because he asked questions no one else dared to. His name was Thales.

Thales of Miletus was no ordinary man. While others took the world at face value, he looked deeper. Why was the river flow? Why do the stars move as they do? What is everything made of? These weren't the question of a trader or a soldier-they were the questions of a philosopher.

At a time when people explained the world through myths and gods, Thales dared to believe that there were natural laws governing everything. He observed, he calculated, and he theorized. His greastest idea? That all things, no matter how different, must come from one fundamental substance-and he believed that substance was water.

People laughed at him. "Water? Everything is made of water? You must be mad!" They scoffed.

But Thales didn't mind. He kept studying, kept thinking. He was the first to predict a solar eclipse, stunning even the mighty rulers of Lydia and Persia. He measured the height of the pyramids using their shadows, shocking the Egyptians. And when others saw philosophy as pointless, he uses his knowledge to predict an olive harvest, bying up presses in advance and making a fortune-just to prove that wisdom had real-world value.

Though he lived over 2,500years ago, his legacy remains. He was the first known philosopher, the man who first asked, "What is the nature of everything?"-a question that would inspire the greatest minds for centuries to come.

And so, under the endless Greek sky, the journey of philosophy began with one simple yet powerful idea:reason over myth, thought over superstition.

The first philosopher had spoken. The world would never be the same again.