The Three Pills of Wisdom

In ancient Greece (469 – 399 BC), Socrates was extensively admired and glorified for his intelligence and good judgment. Many say he laid the seeds for modern western civilization.

One day the great philosopher was visited by his acquaintance. Eager to share some juicy gossip, the man asked, “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 Test of Three.”

“Test of Three?”

“That’s correct,” Socrates continued. “Before you talk to me about my student let’s take a moment to test what you’re going to say. The first test is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?”

The man shook his head. “No, I actually just heard about it, and...”

Socrates cut him off.

“So you don’t really know if it’s true or not. Now let’s try the second test, the test of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my student something good?”

Again, the man shook his head. “No, on the contrary...”

“So,” Socrates continued, “you want to tell me something bad about him even though you’re not certain it’s true?”

The man shrugged, a little embarrassed.

Socrates continued, “You may still pass though because there is a third test – the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my student going to be useful to me?”

A little defeated, the man replied, “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 then hung his head, obviously ashamed and just stood silent. Finally he turned around and just walked away.

Although there is nothing wrong with talking about other people, it is what we talk about them that really matters. It is so easy to fall into a pattern of unconscious criticism, doubt and misunderstanding while involving oneself in a conversation about a third person. This short story of the great Greek philosopher Socrates could help us in making a better judgment about the information that we consume every day. The triple filter test can act as a very useful tool for blocking all the information that is not important to our lives.