The Socrates Triple Filter Test

SocratesIn ancient Greece, Socrates was reputed to hold knowledge in high esteem.

One day an acquaintance met the great philosopher and said, “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. 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 even useful, why tell it to me at all?”

Friends, use this triple filter each time you hear loose talk about any of your near & dear ones.

Atomul social

Obiective :

• dezvoltarea capacității de autocunoaștere /intercunoaștere;
• dezvoltarea capacității de a comunica / interacţiona ;
• creșterea coeziunii grupului ;

Participanţii vor desena trei cercuri concentrice, notând individual: prietenii foarte buni (în cercul cel mai mic), prietenii buni (în cercul de mărime medie) și cunoștințele/amicii (în cercul cel mai mare).

În grupuri de câte 2 se vor trece în revistă persoanele din cele trei cercuri, apoi se vor discuta criteriile de selecţie pentru cele 3 categorii de persoane.

De exemplu : ce calități trebuie să întrunească prietenii foarte buni, prietenii buni etc, punctele /aspectele pe care le au în comun cu cele 3 categorii de persoane, durata relațiilor, debutul acestora, numărul persoanelor din cele 3 categorii etc. Această fază a exerciţiului poate fi urmată de discuții în grupul mare.