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In ancient Greece, Socrates was 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"
"Triplefilter?" "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", said the man, "actually I've just heard about it"
"O.K.", 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're going to tell me about my student something good?"
"No, on the contrary..........."
"So," continued Socrates, "you want to tell me something bad about him even though you're not certain it's true?"
The man shrugged, by now a little embarrased. Socrates continued, "You may still pass the test though as there is a third filter. The filter of Usefulness. Is what you're going 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 just one example of why he was held in such high esteem as a truly great philosopher.
It also explains why he never found out Plato was shagging his wife.
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