We talk and listen all the time
but sometimes some of the things we talk about
are not that much of use to us.
There is a story about the filter test
invented by a great philosopher , Socrates
that I would like to share.
Here is how it goes:
"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?"
We may not have heard this story
nor did we use the test
to filter of what need to be listened to
as sometimes those words can hurt us or our relationship
or our life.
Then next time
when we are about to trust the rumors
or listen to the gossip seriously
we may as well try this filter test
shall we?
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