Socrates: And how many of them were there?
Meno: Quite a few, though not all worked equally, and some hardly at all, for they were most interested in triangles of the right and virtuous variety, and not in squares and their roots.
Socrates: Can you give me an estimate?
Meno: No, I can't say that I can. I am sorry, Socrates.
Socrates: No problem, would you accept five thinkers as an estimate.
Meno: I think that should be fair.
Socrates: And shall we assume they worked for two years, that is the smallest number which retains the plural, and our assumption was that they worked for years.
Meno: Two years is indeed acceptable to me, Socrates.
Socrates: Very well then, Meno, it would appear that the Pythagoreans spent 10 total years of thinking time to solve the riddles of the square root of two.
Meno: I agree.