The Socrates Triple Filter Test
In ancient Greece, Socrates was reputed to hold knowledge in high esteem.
One day an acquaintance met the great philosopher and said, “Do you know what I just heard about your friend?â€ÂÂ
“Hold on a minute,†Socrates replied. “Before telling me anything, I’d like you to pass a little test. It’s called
The Triple Filter Test.â€ÂÂ
“Triple filter?â€ÂÂ
“That’s right,†Socrates 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.â€ÂÂ
“The first filter is
TRUTH. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?â€ÂÂ
“No,†the man said, “actually I just heard about it and…â€ÂÂ
“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 friend something good?â€ÂÂ
“No, on the contrary…â€ÂÂ
“So,†Socrates 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?â€ÂÂ
“No, not really.â€ÂÂ
“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?â€ÂÂ
**I believe it is good to use this triple filter each time you hear loose talks about you & your loved ones.
**It would also be wise to use it here in our group/forum as well specially to people who would start to
flame &
people who are always lured into flaming ....................just my two cents.
