一则关于伟大的哲学家苏格拉底的小故事，故事很短，却令人感慨万分。故事是这样的：
在古希腊, 苏格拉底由于知识渊博而非常受到人们的尊敬。
一天， 一个人遇到了这位伟大的哲学家，便对苏格拉底说道："你知道我刚才听说关于你朋友的什么事情吗?"
"等等，"苏格拉底回答到。" 在你告诉我之前我希望你能接受一个小测试，即'三重过滤测试'。
"三重过滤?"
"是的，" 苏格拉底继续说道： "在你谈论我的朋友之前，不妨花一些时间来过滤你将要说的话。那就是我为什么称之为'三重过滤测试'的原因。"
"第一项过滤的是真实性。你真的能非常肯定你要说的事情是千真万确的吗?"
"不能，" 那个人说道，"实际上我也只是听说关于你朋友......"
"那好，" 苏格拉底接着说." 所以你根本不知道这件事的真伪。"
"现在让我们进行第二项过滤项目，即褒贬性。你要告诉我关于我朋友的事情是好消息吗?"
"不是，正好相反......"
"那么," 苏格拉底接着说道."你想要告诉我关于我朋友的坏消息, 但你却不能肯定那是真的. 尽管如此, 你可能仍然需要完成这项测试, 因为还剩下最后一个过滤项目, 即实用性. 你要告诉我关于我朋友的事情对我来说有实际意义吗?"
"不， 一点也没有。"
"那好吧，" 苏格拉底作出了结论， "如果你想告诉我关于我朋友的事情是即不真实，又不美好，甚至毫无用处，那么到底为什么你还要告诉我这件事情呢?"
... ...
这就是为什么苏格拉底被誉为伟大的哲学家并且有如此高的声誉！
SOCRATES' TRIPLE FILTER TEST
In ancient Greece, Socrates was reputed to hold knowledge in high esteem. One day an acquaintance met the great philosopher and said, "Socrates, do you know what I just heard about your friend?"
"Hold on a minute," Socrates replied. "Before telling me anything I'd like you to pass a little test.
It's called the Triple Filter Test."
"Triple filter?"
"That's right," Socrates continued. "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. 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 even useful, why tell it to me at all?"
This is why Socrates was a great philosopher and held in such high esteem. It also explains why he never found out his best friend was sleeping with his wife.
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