Keep this in mind the next time you are about to repeat a rumour.
In ancient Greece (469 - 399 BC), Socrates was widely lauded for his
wisdom.
One day an acquaintance ran up to him excitedly and said, 'Socrates, do
you
know what I just heard about one of your students?'
'Wait a moment,' Socrates replied. 'Before you tell me I'd like you to
pass
a little test. It's called the Triple Filter Test.'
'Triple filter?' asked the acquaintance.
'That's right,' Socrates continued. 'Before you talk to me about my
student let's take a moment to filter what you're going to say. 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.'
'All right,' said Socrates. 'So you don't really 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 student something good?'
'No, on the contrary ...'.
'So,' Socrates continued, 'you want to tell me something bad about him,
even though you're not certain it's true?'.
The man shrugged, a little embarrassed. Socrates continued.' You may
still pass the test though, because there is a third filter - the filter
of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my student going to be
useful to me?'
'No, not really...'
'Well,' concluded Socrates, 'if what you want to tell me is neither True
nor Good nor even Useful, why tell it to me at all?'
The man was defeated and ashamed. This is the reason Socrates was a
great philosopher and held in such high esteem. It also explains why he
never
found out that Plato was shagging his wife.
regards
Ray
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