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 telling me
anything, I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called
the Triple Filter Test.”
“Triple filter?”
“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. 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, 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?”
This is why Socrates was a great philosopher and held in
such high esteem.
Author unknown. If anyone has a proprietary interest in this story please authenticate and I will be happy to credit, or remove, as the circumstances dictate.
Thanks to Gods Work Ministry Dwayne Savaya Godswork100@hotmail.com