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.
It also explains why Socrates never found out that Diogenes was shagging his
wife
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