We get old too soon and smart too late. Part 1

Few decades back, when I was a kid, I was voraciously into reading fiction, My Granddad quoted Francis Bacon -  "Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only in parts, others to be read, but not curiously, and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention", he advised me not to be reckless and indiscriminate in my book selection.

I was an idiot and young, I ignored this great piece of advise, something I deeply regret today.

A Swedish Proverb nails it - “We get old too soon and smart too late."

Now, Facebook has an section wherein one enters the number of books one has read. (also the movies, TV shows.. but that is for a lament another day). I entered the names ended up with a huge list- Enid Blyton, Franklin W Dixon, Alistair McLean, Edgar R Burroughs, Ken Follett, ........

Today I feel nah, I know  - There is so many better books to spend time and effort on. I know I should have read less fiction and read fewer but better books (Primarily Non-fiction). The books I regret not reading thoroughly are my school & college Text books. The one book I regret not being able to implement is on speed reading (Monkey mind?).

Today I am proud owner of many wonderful Physics, Chemistry & Maths books; But my foundations being weak, I can barely appreciate the beauty let alone understand Quantum mechanics, Relativity or String theory. It's so painful, like listening to a refrain and not being able to remember the haunting melody.

Though I try to read regularly today, I realise the are so many books worth reading and so little time to learn and implement the knowledge gained. Worse, my monkey mind allows me to hoard, skim but rarely analyse or assimilate. 

The Triple Filter

In ancient India, One day a person met Chanakya, and said, "Do you know what I just heard about your friend?"

"Hold on," Chanakya said. "Before telling me anything I'd like you to pass a little test called the Triple Filter Test."

"Triple filter?"

"That's right," Chanakya continued."Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you're going to say. That's why I call it the triple filter test.

The first filter is Truth.
Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"
"No," the man said, "actually I just heard about it and..."
"All right," said Chankya."So you don't know if it's true or not.

Now let's try the second filter, the filter of Goodness.
Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?"
"No, on the contrary..."
"So," Chankaya continued, "you want to tell me something bad about him, but you're not certain it's true.

You may still pass the test though, because there's one filter left, the filter of Usefulness.
Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?"
"No, not really."
"Well," concluded Chankya, "if what you want to tell me is neither true nor good nor useful, why tell it to me at all?"
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Disclosure - I received the message on Whatsapp, am saving it on blog as I clear my phone . The Triple filter has rightly or wrongly been attributed to Chankya. That does not retract is validity. Please Use this triple filter each time you hear gossip...