In ancient Greece, Socrates was reputed to hold knowledge in high
> esteem. 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'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. 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.
>
> (It also explains why he never found out his best friend was
> fucking his wife.)
> esteem. 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'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. 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.
>
> (It also explains why he never found out his best friend was
> fucking his wife.)
