Useless speech

Philosophers seem to be particularly down on most things that us mango people like doing. Lolling around in bed, munching popcorn and watching TV? Bad for health and character. Going to the local pub and having a ball? Mucks up your liver and your life. Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow you die? The day after you'll be reborn as a slug. I mean, name the thing that you find enjoyable, and this entire breed will spring up in arms deriding it.

Tiru, being a philosopher, cannot be expected to be an exception. So, here he goes...

Nayanilan enbadhu sollum payanila paarith thuraikkum urai - Tirukkural

A person's lack of virtue is demonstrated by how extensively he speaks on useless things - Loose Translation

There you go. You have to speak only of useful things - physics, chemistry, mathematics, LLMs, AI, dark matter...Speak of movies and such and not only are you a useless bum but you also lack virtue.

Is that really what Tiru means? I mean, really! I think not. I mean, if everything we say are meant to be purposeful, most of us will forget how to speak within a week. But exactly what is purpose? I mean, YOU may think that someone is indulging in purposeless gossip but someone else will be paying him as an 'influencer'. Is not making money the sole determinant of purpose these days? On the other hand, you may think of someone talking about spirituality as the heights of purpose but nobody would consider him worth advertising money. Useless? This purpose thing is a quagmire.

If, on the other hand, you put in 'gossip' in the place of 'useless things'; that the translation of 'payanila' in this context is 'gossip'...THEN you get a different idea of the whole thing. I mean, when has gossip has ANY useful purpose other than to spread negativity? Like, who goes around whispering, 'Know what Anil did? He paid for a poor child's education?' Gossip is, almost by definition, something negative about someone you are expected to otherwise like or respect.

AND if there is someone who spends all his time in extensively gossiping, which would mean that he is perpetually thinking and spreading negativity, THAT person is unlikely to be a paragon of virtue, is he?

So, yeah, Tiru is probably not only being a spoilsport when he says, in effect, 'He who indulges only is gossip is unlikely to be virtuous'

But...but...if I am not allowed to indulge in gossip what the heck do I do on Social media?