Keep this in mind the next time you are about to repeat a rumour or spread gossip.
In ancient Greece (469-399 BC), Socrates was widely lauded for his wisdom.One day an acquaintance ran up to him excitedly and said, “Socrates, do you know what I just heard about Diogenes?”
“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 Diogenes 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 Diogenes something good?” “No, on the contrary…”
“So,” Socrates continued, “You want to tell me something about Diogenes that may be bad, 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 Diogenes 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 or anyone at all?”
The man was bewildered and ashamed. This is an example of why Socrates was a great philosopher and held in such high esteem.
To be fair it also explains why Socrates never found out that Diogenes was sleeping with his wife
Great article… Socrates was indeed a great philosopher (regardless of his wife!).
apparently his wife was something of a dragon, and he perhaps spent so much time in the market to avoid her. On the other hand he was known for not washing much, so maybe she was glad to keep him out of the house.
thank you.. gossip is SO easy to fall into… Good to have another memory jogger…
Thinking about the advice the Buddha is quoted to have given to Prince Abhaya (Abhaya Rajakumara Sutta)
helps us too… AS TO WHEN TO SPEAK AND WHEN NOT TO
albeit on a rather more sophisticated level…
An extract from Majjhima Nikaya 58
(Version edited by Steve Weissman, Wat Kow Tahm meditation teacher)
So we correlate with Socrates here about need to be TRUE, and GOOD and USEFUL ( beneficial) , but the Buddha adds another factor – whether the listener is likely to want to hear it!
So, even when all the good stuff is there – true, beneficial… one has to judge when is the proper time to say them!
However – & maybe the most seductive for the speaker – even though “true and correct”, speech may be “endearing and agreeable” for their audience but be unbeneficial in the long term!
And, sometimes our intended speech may lead to beneficial results but “unwelcome and disagreeable” for the intended listener, so we may have to put up with their disgruntledness…
Not always that easy, eh!?
eg. Applying this advice to written dialogue: Is the adulterous bit ‘true’ or just gossip? (… is it “beneficial” to read!?!?) 🙂