The 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?"

 

"Hold on a minute," Socrates replied. "Before you talk to me about my

friend, it might be good idea to take a moment and filter what you’re

going to say. That’s why I call it the triple filter test. The first filter is

Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell

me is true?"

 

"Well, no," the man said, "actually I just heard about it and…"

 

"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?"

 

"Umm, no, on the contrary…"

 

"So," Socrates continued, "you want to tell me something bad about my

friend, 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?"

 

"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?"