Using the “Three Gates” of Speech To Protect Yourself

I’ve spoken of the usefulness of the Three Gates in monitoring your own speech. But. I just realized I could turn this around and look at what someone says to me. “IS IT TRUE?” If a matter of defined fact, assuming there is agreement on the source of the definition or information, it can be possible to determine if someone is speaking the truth. On the other hand, there are plenty of situations where that initial truth is the matter under discussion: “we are speaking to determine what is true” is a perfect philosophical position. It might be difficult to determine what is. We might be wrong, after all — that’s always a possibility. So unless it is glaringly obvious to you that they are just wrong, and further that they deny the authority of any source you can find (or all sources you consider reasonable) it is perfectly reasonable to assume that either they are wrong, or that it will not be possible to agree upon truth in this instance. You will NOT be able to come to a useful conclusion with someone who simply invalidates any and all news sources that conflict with the Youtube videos they love.

“IS IT USEFUL?” Something that often happens in a conversation, sometimes quite innocently, is that the topic shifts subtly without you realizing it. For instance, if I am talking about the kidnapper who grabbed my child and shoved her into the back part of a car and drove off, the kidnapping is the important part of the discussion. Whether that back part is called the “trunk” or the “boot” is a discussion to be had only if my…