Keep this in mind the next time that you are about to repeat a rumour or spread gossip . . . . 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." "Alright," 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 that 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, good, or even useful, why tell 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 banging his wife !
One day a perfect man and a perfect woman went out on a date after planning a perfect evening. They wore their perfect clothes and drove a perfect car, and after a while they passed a stranger in distress. The stranger turned out to be Santa Claus, stranded with a big bag of toys. They offered him a lift and started driving again. Soon the weather got bad, driving conditions got nasty, they had a bad accident and only one of them survived. Who was it ? It was the perfect woman. Everybody knows that Santa Claus and a perfect man are just imaginary creations that don’t exist (women, stop reading now . . . . men, keep reading). If the perfect man and Santa Claus don’t exist, the woman must have been driving, which explains the accident (men, keep reading). If you’re a woman and still reading this, it only proves another point . . . . women never listen !
Wish me luck in this years London Marathon. I made 3hrs 12mins and 9 seconds last year. This year I will try to beat that, but I get bored and usually turn over and watch something else!
Imagine no wars and giving money to the IRA to buy weapons ... ... keeps them out of the hands of soldiers I suppose.
