2024年3月11日发(作者：)

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 couldn't stand the

idea of being the only football player who didn't, so he made a pact that he'd give

me his girl in exchange for my jacket. He wasn't the brightest guy. Polly wasn't 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, didn'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,

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 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 let's look at the fallacy

Dicto 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 in agreement.

她点头表示赞同。

I could see she was stumped. "Polly," I explained, "it'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，运动对大多数

人来说是有益的。”

"Next is Hasty Generalization. Self-explanatory, right? Listen carefully: You

can't speak French. Rob can't 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 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 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 it's no argument. The man never answered the

boss's question. Instead he appealed to the boss's 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, 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, "don't derail the discussion. The inference is wrong. Doctors

aren't taking a test to see how much they have learned, but students are. The

situations are altogether different. You can't 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 it’s 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 won't 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 grin, I said, "We have now spent five evenings together. We

get along pretty well. We make a pretty good couple."

我赞许地对她笑了笑，说：“我们在一起已经度过了五个晚上，相互之间挺合得来，

我们是蛮相配的一对。” "Hasty Generalization," said Polly brightly. "Or as a normal

person might say, that's a little premature, don't you think?"'I laughed with

amusement. She'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 don't have to eat a whole cake to know it's good."

“草率结论，”波莉伶俐地说，“或者是按一般人的说法，这个结论有些不成熟，你

不这样认为吗？”我被逗得笑了起来，她功课还真学得不错，大大超过了我的预期。“亲

爱的，”我开口说，同时宽容地拍了拍她的手，“五次约会已经够多了，毕竟你不需要吃

掉整个蛋糕才知道它是不是好吃。”

“False Analogy,” said Polly promptly. “Your premise is that dating is like

eating. But you’re not a cake. You’re a boy.”

“错误类比，”波莉立即回应。

“你的前提是约会就如同吃东西。可你不是蛋糕，你是个男孩。”

I laughed with somewhat less amusement, hiding my dread that she’d

learned her lessons too well. A few more false steps would be my doom. I decided

to change tactics and try flattery instead.

“Polly, I love you. Please say you’ll go out with me. I’m nothing without

you.”

“Ad Misericordiam,”she said.

“You certainly can discern a fallacy when you see it,” I said, my hopes

starting to crumble. “But don’t take them so literally. I mean this is all academic.

You know the things you learn in school don’t have anything to do with real

life.”

“Dicto Simpliciter,” She said. “Besides, you really should practice what you

preach.”

我又笑了笑，不过不觉得那么有趣了，同时还不能表露出我害怕她学得太好了。 再错

几步我可就无法挽回了。我决定改变策略，转而尝试奉承她的办法。 “波莉，我爱你。请

答应做我的女朋友，没有你我什么也不是。” “文不对题，”她说。

“你还真是能在遇到逻辑谬误时一一辨别它们了，”我说，心里的希望已经开始动摇。

“不过不要对它们太死板，我是说这都是些学术的东西。你知道，学校里学的东西和

实际生活根本没有什么联系。” “绝对判断，”她说道，“而且，你自己教的东西应该自己

身体力行。”

I leaped to my feet, my temper flaring up. “Will you or will you not go out

with me?”

“Not to you proposition,” she replied.

“Why?” I demanded.

“I’m more interested in a different petitioner – Rob and I are back

together.”

我一下跳了起来，怒火中烧，“你到底愿不愿意做我的女朋友？” “我不愿意(不能同

意你的提议)，”她答道。

“为什么？”我追问道。“我对另一位求爱者更感兴趣――罗伯和我重归于好了。”

With great effort, I said calmly, “How could you give me the axe over Rob?

Look at me an ingenious student, a tremendous intellectual, a man with an assured

future. Look at Rob, a muscular idiot, a guy who’ll never know where his next

meal is coming from. Can you give me one good reason why you should be with

him?”

“Wow, what presumption! I’ll put it in a way someone as brilliant as you can

understand,” retorted Polly, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Full disclosure – I

like Rob in leather. I told him to say yes to you so he could have your jacket!”

我极力地保持着平静，说道：“你怎么会甩了我而选择罗伯？

看看我，一个聪明过人的学生，一个不同凡响的学者，一个前途无量的人。

再看看罗伯，一个肌肉发达的蠢材，一个有了上顿没下顿的家伙。你是否能给我一个

充足的理由，为什么要选择跟他？”

43 “喔，这是什么假设啊！为了让像你这样聪明的人能够明白，我这么说吧，”波莉

反驳道，声音里充满了讽刺，“事情的真相是——我喜

欢罗伯穿皮衣。是我让他同意你们的协议的，这样他就能拥有你的夹克！”

再看看罗伯，一个肌肉发达的蠢材，一个有了上顿没下顿的家伙。你是否能给我一个

充足的理由，为什么要选择跟他？”

43 “喔，这是什么假设啊！为了让像你这样聪明的人能够明白，我这么说吧，”波莉

反驳道，声音里充满了讽刺，“事情的真相是——我喜

欢罗伯穿皮衣。是我让他同意你们的协议的，这样他就能拥有你的夹克！”

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