Searching for Honesty
– Diogenes
Issue 86
July 18, 2019
There is a story from long ago Athens about a man named Diogenes. He was a little weird. He cast off cultural norms and practices. He slept in a barrel, begged for food, used his hands as a bowl for food, told a king to step aside so he might enjoy the sunshine. He intentionally cast aside as much of this life as he could in his quest for total freedom from the business of this world. The act for which he is best known perhaps is his search around town with a lantern looking for an “honest man.” So far as the records show, he never succeeded.
Diogenes lived around 350 BC. As we look about today, would we find much of a change? How much would you bet that people are more honest today than in ancient Athens? Would Diogenes find it easier to find an honest man? Would a better lantern help? A higher standard of living? How about more STEM in the schools? How about teaching every student to code? How about you, personally? Have you recently said a false word or written a false number? If you met Diogenes, would he shake your hand or keep looking?