Socrates' Triple Filter Test
In ancient Greece, Socrates was reputed to hold knowledge in highesteem. One day an acquaintance met 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'dlike 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 myfriend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you'regoing to say. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely surethat 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 ornot. Now let's try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is whatyou are about to tell me about my friend something good?""No, on the contrary...""So," Socrates continued, "you want to tell me some thing 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 youwant 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 neithertrue nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?"
In ancient Greece, Socrates was reputed to hold knowledge in highesteem. One day an acquaintance met 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'dlike 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 myfriend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you'regoing to say. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely surethat 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 ornot. Now let's try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is whatyou are about to tell me about my friend something good?""No, on the contrary...""So," Socrates continued, "you want to tell me some thing 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 youwant 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 neithertrue nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?"
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