Life's Filter

We are assailed by so many things today. It is hard to keep up. Rumors, half-truths, and downright lies hit us from all sides. Gossip, rumors, and false information surround us. It would be great if someone could invent a filter for life that would help us deal with all of this.

There is a story that suggests that Socrates might just have invented one. The story goes that one day, one of Socrates’ disciples was quite agitated. He told Socrates that he had met one of Socrates’ friends and that he had spoken badly of him.

Socrates asked the man to calm down. After thinking for a moment, he asked him to wait a minute. Before listening to what he had to say, Socrates needed to put the message to a test. If the message didn’t pass the test, it wasn’t worth his consideration.

He asked his disciple three key questions. First, he asked, “Are you absolutely sure that what you’re going to tell me is true?” The disciple thought for a moment. In fact, he couldn’t be sure if what his friend had told him was malicious. He admitted that it was a matter of perspective. “So, you do not know if everything he said about me is true or not,” said the philosopher. The disciple had to admit that he didn’t.

If you read any of my articles or posts, you know how important TRUTH is to me.  It is not always easy to discern and admit the TRUTH as his disciple did. Questions such as Socrates asks are the key to getting to the TRUTH.

Then, Socrates asked him a second question: “Is what you’re going to tell me good or not?” The disciple replied that, evidently, it wasn’t good at all. In fact, it was quite the opposite. He believed that what he was going to share with the philosopher would cause him discomfort and distress. Thus, Socrates said to him: “You’re going to tell me something bad, but you’re not completely sure it’s true”. The disciple admitted that this was the case.

Finally, Socrates asked the third question: “Is what you have to say about my friend going to help me?” The disciple hesitated. He really didn’t know if that information was useful or not. Maybe it would distance him from his friend but considering that he wasn’t sure whether it was true or not, maybe it wasn’t useful at all.

In the end, the philosopher refused to listen to what his disciple wanted to tell him. “If what you want to tell me isn’t true, isn’t good, and isn’t even useful, why would I want to hear it?” Is this applicable to today? In everyday life, it’s not easy to define the truth, the good, and the necessary. These are abstract concepts that are sometimes difficult to apply. That’s why there are also some additional questions that can help you when it comes to applying the triple filter test. Take nothing on face value without questioning and testing it to be true, we have so little good in the world to risk wasting any of it, and why waste your valuable time on anything that is not useful.

This triple filter test is an excellent guide, both for what we’re going to say and for what we’re going to listen to. It’s a set of parameters that represent healthy and constructive communication.

Applying it allows us to put a stop to annoying rumors, , half-truths, and downright lies that sometimes haunt us. However, it’s also valid for other types of messages, such as those we see in social networks, workplaces, and common language.

Before finishing, it is necessary to mention a matter of TRUTH. Although this is a quite beautiful story that brings with it a powerful message for our daily lives, there is no historical or bibliographic information that relates the anecdote to the Greek philosopher. It is, however, a great little hack for reviewing facts and information. Try it yourself…Socrates won’t mind!