Keep this philosophy in mind the next time you either hear or are about to repeat a rumor.
In ancient Greece (469 – 399 BC), Socrates was widely lauded for his wisdom.
One day the great philosopher came upon an acquaintance who ran up to him excitedly and said, “Socrates, do you know what I just heard about one of your students?”
“Wait a moment,” Socrates replied. “Before you tell me I’d like you to pass a little test. It’s called the Triple Filter Test.”
“Triple filter?” asked the acquaintance.
“That’s right,” Socrates continued. “Before you talk to me about my student let’s take a moment to 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.”
“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 student something good?”
“No, on the contrary …”
“So,” Socrates continued, “you want to tell me something bad about
him, even though you’re not certain it’s true?”
The man shrugged, a little embarrassed. Socrates continued. “You may still pass the test though, because there is a third filter – the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my student 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?”
The man was defeated and ashamed.
This is the reason Socrates was a great philosopher and held in such high esteem.
It also might explain why he never found out that Plato was shagging his wife.
That’s great.. specially the last tidbit!
I have a friend who uses the following when she ‘gossips’.. first she calls it gossip before she starts, but she also tries not to share anything about a person that she wouldn’t say to that person’s face. She wanted to tell a mutual friend about something I had shared… she got the friend on the phone, then got me on the line and asked permission… it was pretty funny and kept the story from being gossip.
WOW, the triple filter is an awesome way to avoid listening to gossip. Next time someone comes to me with a juicy piece of gossip I’m going to remember this and put it to good use. Thanks for sharing it!