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The Triple Filter Test
Marcus Aurelius is quoted as having said, “If it is not right, do not do it; if it is not true, do not say it.”
Good advice, but how often is it not followed when it involves personal information about someone? So often gossip is not true, but even if it is true, it should not be said if it is not good.
Socrates used a triple filter test. When a friend came to Socrates with a juicy bit of gossip, Socrates replied, “Before you tell me this bit of gossip, will it pass my triple filter test? First of all, what you are about to tell me, is it true?” The man replied that he was not sure; he had heard it but could not verify its truthfulness. Socrates continued by saying, “You want to tell me some gossip but you are not positive that it is true.” “Well,” said Socrates, “Is what you are about to tell me good?” “No,” the man replied, “it certainly is not good.” “So,” Socrates continued, “you want to tell me something that may not be true and it certainly is not good. Let us give this bit of gossip the final of the three filter tests: Is what you are about to tell me going to be useful to me?” Again the man had to confess that no, it would not be useful to Socrates. So, in his wisdom, Socrates then said, “Well, if you are not sure it is true, you know it is not good, and you tell me that it will not be useful to me, why then tell it to me?”
If only each of us would use this triple filter test when someone comes to us with a juicy bit of gossip, it certainly would stop gossip right in its tracks.
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