Jules: Hi Mr OWO. You know there is this dilemma that I frequently have and that is should I tell someone something.
Mr OWO: I will let the great philosopher Socrates answer that question for you with this little story:
One day an acquaintance met Socrates and said, “Do you know that I just heard about your friend?”. “Hold on a minute,” Socrates replied. “Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you’re going to say. That’s why I call it the Triple Filter Test”.
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 and….”. “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 my friend something good?”. “No, on the contrary…”. “So,” Socrates continued, “You want to tell me something bad about him, but you’re not certain it’s true. You may still pass the test though, because there’s one filter left: the filter of Usefulness. “Is what you want to tell me about my friend 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 useful, why tell it to me at all?”
Jules: That is a great answer to should I tell someone something. I have to remember to consider the Triple Filter Test everytime I want to tell someone something.
Mr OWO: You should also use the same considerations when you use the email. You are sparing your friends of not having a long list of unread emails and some free time to do something more useful.
