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1、12456Love 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
2、in exchange 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
3、had the 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
4、看到我身边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 i
5、n 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。而
6、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 Dicto Sim
7、pliciter.“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 in agreement.
8、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，运动就变得有害而不是有益。所以你应该说，运动对大
9、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?“是吗？”波莉吃惊地说。“没有人吗？”This
10、 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 conversation.她似乎学得很开心，而我也可
11、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 the boss asks him what his qualif
12、ications 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, its awful, I agreed, but its no argument. The man never answered the bosss question. Instead he appealed to the bosss
13、 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 to look at their textbooks during exams, beca
14、use 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 test to see how much they have learned, but student
15、s 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 diligent 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 dis
