The early Sophists were extremely knowledgeable, and were professional teachers. It was later on that some would-be teachers gave them a bad reputation as pretending to have knowledge that they didn't really have. It was this latter group that Socrates was criticizing in The Republic.

I hardly qualify as a Sophist of the latter kind. Other than music, I do not profess to be a teacher. But I am quite knowledgeable. Simple enough. I enjoyed high school, I enjoyed college. I stayed awake in class. And I generally took notes. And I am a voracious reader on a whole range of subjects. Furthermore, if I don't have the knowledge right at my fingertips, I know how to go about getting it.

There is nothing unique about this. Any well-educated person can do it.

You've got it wrong, Goofup. A person who is sophisticated is knowledgeable and worldly. What you are talking about is called a "pseudo-sophisticate."

That's not me. I can back up what I say, whether or not you accept facts as facts. If you do not, that's not my problem, it's yours.

Don Firth