He begins his argument by analogy. Just as a vigorous plant suffers greatly when deprived of necessary nutrients, environment and time, a vigorous soul, such as a philosopher must possess according to Socrates, can become the greatest of evildoers if its education were to be bad (491d -492a). What then can corrupt such a vigorous soul? Socrates argues that the education of those with a philosophical soul is corrupted by the non-philosophical majority, saying: "They object very loudly and excessively to some of the things that are said or done and approve of others in the same way, shouting and clapping their hands, so that the very rocks and surroundings echo the din of their praise or blame and double it” (492b-c) By this, Socrates means that social beliefs act as a kind of chamber of resonance in which the strongest opinions are perpetuated and only grow in size to the point where dissenting opinions are unable to break through the cacophony. This crowd that forms then coerces those who dissent with “disenfranchisement, fines or death” (492d).