Three Sieves

There's another story that keeps coming up from time to time on various social media feeds about the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates.  From what I can determine, the story is perhaps wrongly attributed to Socrates (there's no mention of the story in any of his writings), but it's regardless one that I think is worth repeating here.  It's message is important, and there is no question that it's an old story (just maybe not as old as Socrates!).

Here is the story of Socrates and the Three Sieves:

One day a man ran up to Socrates and said, “I have to tell you something about your friend who…”

Socrates interrupted him and asked, “Just wait.  About the story you’re about to tell me, did you put it through the three sieves?"

The man was not familiar with the three sieves, so Socrates continued.  "The first is the sieve of Truth. Are you sure that what you are going to tell me is true?"

The man responded, "Actually, I am not sure.  I just overheard it."

Socrates continued and asked, "What about the sieve of Goodness? Will you tell me something good or positive about this man?"

The man shook his head.

Socrates continued and asked, "Now, what about the last sieve? The sieve of Necessity.  Is it necessary to tell me what you’re so excited about?"

When the man bowed his head in shame, Socrates smiled and said, "Well, if the story you’re about to tell me is neither true, good or necessary, just forget it and don’t bother me with it."

So there you have it.  The three sieves are Truth, Goodness, and Necessity (I've also seen the last sieve called Useful).  Whenever we hear about some bit of information and before we pass that information on, we should first see if it passes through the three sieves.  Can we be sure it's true?  Will it be something good or positive?  And is it information that will be useful or necessary to share?  Incidentally, before writing today's post, I actually did determine if it passed through the three sieves - except for the fact that I can't verify that Socrates ever used the test (which I admit above), it definitely does!

Imagine what our world would be like if we used this most ancient of tests...