The three filters of Socrates refer to an anecdote of the great Greek philosopher who survives today, this story is considered a great life lesson, which applies especially to situations in which gossip and rumors prevail.
He tells the story of the three filters of Socrates, who once saw one of his disciples very agitated, told the philosopher that he had met one of his friends and that he had told him about Socrates with great disrespect.
“To find you, think for yourself. ” -Socrates-
Upon hearing this, Socrates asked him to calm down, after thinking about it for a moment, she asked him to wait a minute, before he heard what he had to say, the message had to go through three necessary filters, if he did not overcome them, it was not worth hearing the message.
As was his custom, the Greek sage asked his restless disciple a question. The question was, “Are you absolutely sure that what you’re going to tell me is true?”The disciple thinks for a moment. In fact, I couldn’t be sure that what I had heard could be described as disrespectful. These were perspectives. ” So you don’t know if it’s all true or not,” the philosopher said. The disciple must have admitted that he did not.
Then the great Greek master asked a second question: “What are you going to tell me if it’s good or not?” The disciple replied that this was clearly not good. Otherwise. What I had to tell him were words he thought would cause him discomfort and anguish. Socrates said, “You’re going to tell me something wrong, but you don’t know if it’s true. “The disciple admitted that this was the case.
Finally, Socrates had to ask a third question and he did. He asked, “What do you have to say about my friend that will come in handy?”The disciple hesitated. In fact, I didn’t know if this information would be useful or not, maybe it would just keep you away from that friend, but since we didn’t know if it was true or not, it might not be helpful.
The anecdote of the three filters of Socrates tells that, in the end, the philosopher refused to listen to what his disciple wanted to say to him: “If what you want to tell me is not true, it is not good and does not help, why would I like to know?, he said in conclusion.
Truth, kindness and usefulness are the three filters of Socrates, in the philosopher’s opinion, these are the questions that everyone should ask themselves before saying anything. The first: am I sure what I’m going to say is true?I’ll say it’s good and the third: should we say that?
This triple filter is an excellent guide, both for what we will say and what we will hear, represents a set of parameters around what is healthy and constructive communication, so this story remains relevant despite the passage of the centuries.
In everyday life it is not easy to define the true, the good and the necessary, are abstract concepts that are sometimes difficult to apply. Therefore, there are also some additional questions that will help you apply the three Socrates filters.
These questions are
As we pointed out at the beginning, socrates’ three filters are especially aimed at rumors or gossip, applying them is possible to stop irritating gossip in time, but all these elements are also valid for other types of messages: those to receive through the media and social networks. Much of the information flowing through these means is also questionable and meaningless.