【正文】 unit 1 TextALove and logic: The story of a fallacy愛情與邏輯：謬誤的故事1 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 couldn39。t stand the idea of being the only football player who didn39。t, so he made a pact that he39。d give me his girl in exchange for my jacket. He wasn39。t the brightest guy. Polly wasn39。t too shrewd, either.在我和室友羅伯的交易成功之后，我和波莉有了第一次約會(huì)。那一年校園里每個(gè)人都有件皮夾克，而羅伯是校足球隊(duì)員中唯一一個(gè)沒有皮夾克的，他一想到這個(gè)就受不了，于是他和我達(dá)成了一項(xiàng)協(xié)議，用他的女友換取我的夾克。他可不那么聰明，而他的女友波莉也不太精明。2 But she was pretty, welloff, didn39。t dye her hair strange colors or wear too much makeup. She 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, wellspoken counterpart by my side, I just might edge past the petition.但她漂亮而且富有，也沒有把頭發(fā)染成奇怪的顏色或是化很濃的妝。她擁有合適的家庭背景，足以勝任一名堅(jiān)忍而睿智的律師的女友。如果我能夠讓我所申請(qǐng)的頂尖律師事務(wù)所看到我身邊伴隨著一位光彩照人、談吐優(yōu)雅的另一半，我就很有可能在競(jìng)聘中以微弱優(yōu)勢(shì)獲勝。3 Radiant she was already. I could dispense her enough pearls of wisdom to make her wellspoken.“光彩照人”，她已經(jīng)是了。而我也能施予她足夠多的“智慧之珠”，讓她變得“談吐優(yōu)雅”。4 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 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.在一起外出度過了美好的一天之后，我驅(qū)車來到了高速公路旁一座小山上一棵古老的大橡樹下。我的想法有些怪異。而這個(gè)地方能夠俯瞰燈火燦爛的城區(qū)，我覺得它會(huì)使人的心情變輕松。我們呆在車子里，我調(diào)低了音響并把腳從剎車上挪開。“我們要談些什么？”她問道。5 Logic.“邏輯學(xué)?！? Cool, she said over her gum.“好酷啊，”她一邊嚼著口香糖一邊說。7 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 let39。s look at the fallacy Dicto Simpliciter.“邏輯學(xué)的原理，”我說道，“即清晰思考的主要原則。邏輯上出現(xiàn)的問題會(huì)歪曲事實(shí)，其中有些還很普遍。我們先來看看一種叫做‘絕對(duì)判斷’的邏輯謬誤?！? Great, she agreed.“好啊，”她表示同意。9 Dicto Simpliciter means an unqualified generalization. For example: Exercise is good. Therefore, everybody should exercise.“‘絕對(duì)判斷’是指在證據(jù)不足的情況下所作出的推斷。比方說：運(yùn)動(dòng)是有益的，所以每個(gè)人都應(yīng)該運(yùn)動(dòng)。”10 She nodded in agreement.她點(diǎn)頭表示贊同。11 I could see she was stumped. Polly, I explained, it39。s 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.我看得出她沒弄明白?！安ɡ?，”我解釋說，“這個(gè)推斷太過簡(jiǎn)單化了。如果你有心臟病或者超級(jí)肥胖癥什么的，運(yùn)動(dòng)就變得有害而不是有益。所以你應(yīng)該說，運(yùn)動(dòng)對(duì)大多數(shù)人來說是有益的?！?2 Next is Hasty Generalization. Selfexplanatory, right? Listen carefully: You can39。t speak French. Rob can39。t speak French. Looks like nobody at this school can speak French.“接下來是‘草率結(jié)論’。這似乎不言自明，對(duì)吧？仔細(xì)聽好了：你不會(huì)說法語，羅伯也不會(huì)說法語，那么這所學(xué)校里好像是沒有人會(huì)說法語?！?3 Really? said Polly, amazed. Nobody?“是嗎？”波莉吃驚地說。“沒有人嗎？”14 This is also a fallacy, I said. The generalization is reached too hastily. Too few instances support such a conclusion.“這也是一種邏輯謬誤，”我說，“這一結(jié)論太草率了，因?yàn)槟軌蛑С诌@一結(jié)論的例證太少了?！?5 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.她似乎學(xué)得很開心，而我也可以放心地說我的計(jì)劃正在穩(wěn)步推進(jìn)中。我把她送回家，并且定下了下一次約會(huì)交談的日子。16 Seated under the oak the next evening I said, Our first fallacy tonight is called Ad Misericordiam.第二天晚上，坐在那棵橡樹下，我說：“今天晚上我們要談的第一個(gè)邏輯謬誤叫‘文不對(duì)題’。”17 She nodded with delight.她高興地點(diǎn)了點(diǎn)頭。18 Listen closely, I said. A man applies for a job. When the boss asks him what his qualifications are, he says he has six children to feed.“聽好了，”我說，“有個(gè)人去申請(qǐng)工作，當(dāng)老板問他有什么應(yīng)聘資格時(shí)，他說他有六個(gè)孩子要撫養(yǎng)?！?9 Oh, this is awful, awful, she whispered in a choked voice.“哇，這太可怕了，太可怕了,”她哽咽著輕聲說道。20 Yes, it39。s awful, I agreed, but it39。s no argument. The man never answered the boss39。s question. Instead he appealed to the boss39。s sympathy — Ad Misericordiam.“對(duì)，是挺可怕的,”我表示贊同地說,“但這不是理由。這個(gè)人根本沒有回答老板的問題，而只是在博取老板的同情，這就是‘文不對(duì)題’?！?1 She blinked, still trying hard to keep back her tears.她眨著眼睛，仍在竭力地忍住眼淚。22 Next, I said carefully, we will discuss False Analogy. An example, students should be allowed to look at their textbooks during exams, because surgeons have Xrays to guide them during surgery.“接下來”，我小心地說，“我們來討論‘錯(cuò)誤類比’。舉個(gè)例子：學(xué)生考試時(shí)應(yīng)該允許看課本，因?yàn)橥饪漆t(yī)生在做手術(shù)時(shí)可以看X光片?！?3 I like that idea, she said.“我喜歡這個(gè)主意，”她說。24 Polly, I groaned, don39。t derail the discussion. The inference is wrong. Doctors aren39。t taking a test to see how much they have learned, but students are. The situations are altogether different. You can39。t make an analogy between them.“波莉，”我抱怨道，“別打岔，這一推論是錯(cuò)誤的。醫(yī)生們不是在參加考試以檢查他們學(xué)到了多少，而學(xué)生卻是。他們的情況完全不同，你不能將他們作類比。”25 I still think it39。s a good idea, said Polly.“我仍然認(rèn)為這是一個(gè)好主意，”波莉說。26 With five nights of diligent work, I actually made a logician out of Polly. She was an analytical thinker at last. The time had e for the conversion of our relationship from academic to romantic.經(jīng)過五個(gè)夜晚的辛勤努力，我竟然真的將波莉打造成了一個(gè)邏輯行家，她總算能夠分析思考了?，F(xiàn)在應(yīng)該是時(shí)候讓我們的關(guān)系從學(xué)術(shù)向浪漫發(fā)展了。27 Polly, I said when next we sat under our oak, tonight we won39。t discuss fallacies.“波莉，”當(dāng)我們又一次坐在那棵橡樹下的時(shí)候我對(duì)她說，“今晚我們不討論邏輯謬誤了。”28 Oh? she said, a little disappointed.“哦？”她回答說，有一點(diǎn)失望。29 Favoring her with a grin, I said, We have now spent five evenings together. We get along pretty well. We make a pretty good couple.我贊許地對(duì)她笑了笑，說:“我們?cè)谝黄鹨呀?jīng)度過了五個(gè)晚上，相互之間挺合得來，我們是蠻相配的一對(duì)。”30 Hasty Generalization, said Polly brightly. Or as a normal person might say, that39。s a little premature, don39。t you think?“草率結(jié)論，”波莉伶俐地說，“或者是按一般人的說法，這個(gè)結(jié)論有些不成熟，你不這樣認(rèn)為嗎？”31 I laughed with amusement. She39。d learned her lessons well, far surpassing my expectations. Sweetheart, I said, patting her hand in a tolerant manner, five dates is plenty. After all, you don39。t have to eat a whole cake to know it39。s good.我被逗得笑了起來，她功課還真學(xué)得不錯(cuò)，大大超過了我的預(yù)期。“親愛的，”我開口說，同時(shí)寬容地拍了拍她的手，“五次約會(huì)已經(jīng)夠多了，畢竟你不需要吃掉整個(gè)蛋糕才知道它是不是好吃?！?2 False Analogy, said Polly promptly. Your premise is that dating is like eating. But you39。re not a cake. You39。re a boy.“錯(cuò)誤類比，”波莉立