Rationalism is not an ideology or a doctrine. It is a method. Its other name is critical thinking. It is the approach and analysis of every problem in a logical and calm manner. It is the method of science that strictly checks every theory. Rationalism is what is NOT taught in Greek schools. There, learning is sterile memorization. Rationalism is what is missing from Greek society. It is led and manipulated by populist politicians, who appeal to emotions rather than reason.

If Greeks had critical thinking, they would have been able to organize their society and economy rationally, modernize their institutions, and correctly choose their politicians. Thus, they would have avoided the Crisis that has troubled them for so many years. The critical method should be the first lesson in our schools. Rationalism is not a talent or a gift from the gods. It is taught and practiced!

“… A personality that has excelled in all genres of written expression (essay, prose, poetry, satire, critique, aphorisms, columns) but also in photography and advertising. N. D. is a spiritual decathlete, one of the few today, not only in our country but worldwide. Just like track decathletes, he does not have the top performance in every event (although he does in some), he is, however, the most complete type of intellectual athlete.

Very few can compete with him in the clarity and elegance of his style or in the concise richness of his expressions. Almost inevitably, he was slow to gain recognition in the intellectual sphere and to some extent remains controversial. One reason is his ironic yet fierce critique of characteristics of the modern Greek character that most idealize (he was given the title of an anti-Greek for this, which he willingly adopted to mock it).

Another reason is his colossal education, his many talents and the success he has achieved wherever he applied them: in Greece, as responsible ministerial voices have certified, excellence breeds envy. A third reason is the intolerance, especially among Greek literary circles, towards incursions from other fields, especially when they bear such unappealing names as “advertising.”

But the resistance of the established intellect to minds like N. D. rather confirms their value than makes it questionable. He owes much of his fame to the well-known book The Misery of Being Greek, which when it first appeared, forty years ago, entertained or outraged many as a disrespectful satire, but the deeper truth of his observations has only recently begun to loom as a suspicion in the public consciousness.

However, N. D. has published more significant books such as the brilliant philosophical essays The Greek Buddha and The Absolute and Backgammon or the unique The Light of the Greeks, which marries philosophy, poetry, aphorism, and photography in a remarkable composition.” Demosthenes Kourtovik “A Versatile Mind” Ta Nea 26.9.15