andy_k
MB Enthusiast
In ancient Greece, Socrates was reputed to hold knowledge in high
esteem. One day an acquaintance came upon the great philosopher and
said, "Socrates, do you know what I just heard about your friend?"
"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."
"Triple filter test?"
"That's right," Socrates continued. "Before you talk to me about my
friend, let's take a moment and 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 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?"
"No, on the contrary..."
"So," Socrates continued, "you want to tell me something bad about
him, and 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?"
This meyhod of thought is why Socrates is considered one of the
greatest philosophers ever documented. and held in such high esteem.
It also explains why he never found out his best friend was XXXXing
his wife.
esteem. One day an acquaintance came upon the great philosopher and
said, "Socrates, do you know what I just heard about your friend?"
"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."
"Triple filter test?"
"That's right," Socrates continued. "Before you talk to me about my
friend, let's take a moment and 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 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?"
"No, on the contrary..."
"So," Socrates continued, "you want to tell me something bad about
him, and 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?"
This meyhod of thought is why Socrates is considered one of the
greatest philosophers ever documented. and held in such high esteem.
It also explains why he never found out his best friend was XXXXing
his wife.
