Ancient Greece, 469-399 BC. Socrates: lauded for his wisdom. The philosopher meets an acquaintance who excitedly exclaims, “Socrates, do you know what I just heard about one of your students?”

“Just a moment,” Socrates replies. “Before you tell me I’d like you to take the Test of Three.”

“Test of Three? Alright…”

“Okay,” Socrates continues. “Before you verbalise about my student let’s test what you wish to say. The first is Truth. Have you ensured your information is true?”

No,” the man says, “actually I just heard about It.”

“Ayayay,” says Socrates. “So you don’t know if it’s true. So let’s try the second, the test of Goodness. Is what you want to tell about my student something good?”

“No, on the contrary…”

“Whoa,” Socrates continues, “you want to spill something bad about someone when you’re not certain it’s true?”

The man shrugs, embarrassed.

Socrates continues, “You may still pass though. A third test! The filter of Usefulness. Will this hearsay be useful to me?”

“No, not really.”

“Well,” concludes Socrates, “what you have is neither True nor Good nor even Useful, so why tell me?”