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1、Love and logic: The story of fallacy爱情与逻辑:谬误的故事I had my first date with Polly after I made the trade with my roommate Rob. That year every guy on campus had a leather jacket, and Rob couldnt stand the idea of being the only football player who didnt, so he made a pact that hed give me his girl in ex
2、change for my jacket. He wasnt the brightest guy. Polly wasnt too shrewd, either.在我和室友罗伯的交易成功之后,我和波莉有了第一次约会。那一年校园里每个人都有件皮夹克,而罗伯是校足球队员中唯一一个没有皮夹克的,他一想到这个就受不了,于是他和我达成了一项协议,用他的女友换取我的夹克。他可不那么聪明,而他的女友波莉也不太精明。But she was pretty, well-off, didnt dye her hair strange colors or wear too much makeup. She had t
3、he right background to be the girlfriend of a dogged, brilliant lawyer. If I could show the elite law firms I applied to that I had a radiant, well-spoken counterpart by my side, I just might edge past the competition.但她漂亮而且富有,也没有把头发染成奇怪的颜色或是化很浓的妆。她拥有合适的家庭背景,足以胜任一名坚忍而睿智的律师的女友。如果我能够让我所申请的顶尖律师事务所看到我身边
4、伴随着一位光彩照人、谈吐优雅的另一半,我就很有可能在竞聘中以微弱优势获胜。“Radiant“ she was already. I could dispense her enough pearls of wisdom to make her “well-spoken“.“光彩照人”,她已经是了。而我也能施予她足够多的“智慧之珠”,让她变得“谈吐优雅”。After a banner day out, I drove until we were situated under a big old oak tree on a hill off the expressway. What I had in
5、 mind was a little eccentric. I thought the venue with a perfect view of the luminous city would lighten the mood. We stayed in the car, and I turned down the stereo and took my foot off the brake pedal. “What are we going to talk about?“ she asked.在一起外出度过了美好的一天之后,我驱车来到了高速公路旁一座小山上一棵古老的大橡树下。我的想法有些怪异。
6、而这个地方能够俯瞰灯火灿烂的城区,我觉得它会使人的心情变轻松。我们呆在车子里,我调低了音响并把脚从刹车上挪开。“我们要谈些什么?”她问道。“Logic.“逻辑学。”“Cool,“ she said over her gum.“好酷啊,”她一边嚼着口香糖一边说。“The doctrine of logic,” I said, “is a staple of clear thinking. Failures in logic distort the truth, and some of them are well known. First lets look at the fallacy Dict
7、o Simpliciter.“逻辑学的原理,”我说道,“即清晰思考的主要原则。逻辑上出现的问题会歪曲事实,其中有些还很普遍。我们先来看看一种叫做 绝对判断 的逻辑谬误。”“Great,” she agreed.“好啊,”她表示同意。“Dicto Simpliciter means an unqualified generalization. For example: Exercise is good. Therefore, everybody should exercise.“ 绝对判断 是指在证据不足的情况下所作出的推断。比方说:运动是有益的,所以每个人都应该运动。 She nodded i
8、n agreement.她点头表示赞同。I could see she was stumped. “Polly,“ I explained, “its too simple a generalization. If you have, say, heart disease or extreme obesity, exercise is bad, not good. Therefore, you must say exercise is good for most people.“我看得出她没弄明白。“波莉,”我解释说,“这个推断太过简单化了。如果你有心脏病或者超级肥胖症什么的,运动就变得有害而
9、不是有益。所以你应该说,运动对大多数人来说是有益的。”“Next is Hasty Generalization. Self-explanatory, right? Listen carefully: You cant speak French. Rob cant speak French. Looks like nobody at this school can speak French.“接下来是 草率结论 。这似乎不言自明,对吧?仔细听好了:你不会说法语,罗伯也不会说法语,那么这所学校里好像是没有人会说法语。” “Really?“ said Polly, amazed. “Nobody?
10、“是吗?”波莉吃惊地说。“没有人吗?”“This is also a fallacy,“ I said. “The generalization is reached too hastily. Too few instances support such a conclusion.“这也是一种逻辑谬误,”我说,“这一结论太草率了,因为能够支持这一结论的例证太少了。”She seemed to have a good time. I could safely say my plan was underway. I took her home and set a date for another
11、conversation.她似乎学得很开心,而我也可以放心地说我的计划正在稳步推进中。我把她送回家,并且定下了下一次约会交谈的日子。Seated under the oak the next evening I said, “Our first fallacy tonight is called Ad Misericordiam.“第二天晚上,坐在那棵橡树下,我说:“今天晚上我们要谈的第一个逻辑谬误叫 文不对题 。”She nodded with delight.她高兴地点了点头。“Listen closely,“ I said. “A man applies for a job. When
12、the boss asks him what his qualifications are, he says he has six children to feed.“听好了,”我说,“有个人去申请工作,当老板问他有什么应聘资格时,他说他有六个孩子要抚养。” “Oh, this is awful, awful,“ she whispered in a choked voice.“哇,这太可怕了,太可怕了,”她哽咽着轻声说到。“Yes, it s awful,“ I agreed, “but its no argument. The man never answered the bosss qu
13、estion. Instead he appealed to the bosss sympathy - Ad Misericordiam.“对,是挺可怕的,”我表示赞同地说,“但这不是理由。这个人根本没有回答老板的问题,而只是在博取老板的同情,这就是 文不对题 。”She blinked, still trying hard to keep back her tears.“她眨着眼睛,仍在竭力地忍住眼泪。Next,“ I said carefully, “we will discuss False Analogy. An example, students should be allowed
14、to look at their textbooks during exams, because surgeons have X-rays to guide them during surgery.“接下来”,我小心地说,“我们来讨论 错误类比 。举个例子:学生考试时应该允许看课本,因为外科医生在做手术时可以看 X 光片。”“I like that idea,“ she said.“我喜欢这个主意,”她说。“Polly,“ I groaned, “dont derail the discussion. The inference is wrong. Doctors arent taking a
15、 test to see how much they have learned, but students are. The situations are altogether different. You cant make an analogy between them.“波莉,”我抱怨道,“别打岔,这一推论是错误的。医生们不是在参加考试以检查他们学到了多少,而学生却是。他们的情况完全不同,你不能将他们作类比。”“I still think its a good idea,“ said Polly.“我仍然认为这是一个好主意,”波莉说。With five nights of diligen
16、t work, I actually made a logician out of Polly. She was an analytical thinker at last. The time had come for the conversion of our relationship from academic to romantic.经过五个夜晚的辛勤努力,我竟然真的将波莉打造成了一个逻辑行家,她总算能够分析思考了。现在应该是时候让我们的关系从学术向浪漫发展了。“Polly,“ I said when next we sat under our oak, “tonight we wont discuss fallacies.“波莉,”当我们又一次坐在那棵橡树下的时候我对她说,“今晚我们不讨论逻辑谬误了。”“Oh?“ she said, a little disappointed.“哦?”她回答说,有一点失望。Favoring her with a gr