英语沙龙：如何避免愚蠢的观点

How to Avoid Foolish Opinions

To avoid the various foolish opinions to which mankind is prone¹,

no superhuman genius is required.

A few simple rules will keep you,

not from all error,

but from silly error.

If the matter is one that can be settled by observation,

make the observation yourself.

Aristotle could have avoided the mistake of thinking

that women have fewer teeth than men,

by the simple device of asking Mrs. Aristotle

to keep her mouth open while he counted.

He did not do so because he thought he knew.

Thinking that you know

when in fact you don’t is a fatal mistake,

to which we are all prone.

Many matters, however,

are less easily brought to the test of experience.

If, like most of mankind,

you have convictions on many such matters,

there are ways in which

you can make yourself aware of your own bias².

If an opinion contrary to your own makes you angry,

that is a sign that you are subconsciously³ aware

of having no good reason for thinking as you do.

If someone maintains that two and two are five,

you feel pity rather than anger.

The most savage⁴ controversies⁵ are those about matters

as to which there is no good evidence either way.

Persecution⁶ is used in theology, not in arithmetic,

because in arithmetic there is knowledge,

but in theology there is only opinion.

So whenever you find yourself getting angry

about a difference of opinion,

be on your guard; you will probably find,

on examination,

that your belief is going beyond what the evidence warrants.

A good way of riding yourself of certain kinds of dogmatism

is to become aware of opinions held in social circles different from your own.

Seek out people with whom you disagree,

and read a newspaper belonging to a party that is not yours.

If the people and the newspaper seem mad and wicked,

remind yourself that you seem so to them.

In this opinion both parties may be right,

but they cannot both be wrong.

This reflection should generate caution.

1 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

2 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

3 subconsciously   

ad.下意识地，潜意识地

参考例句：

• In choosing a partner we are subconsciously assessing their evolutionary fitness to be a mother of children or father provider and protector. 在选择伴侣的时候，我们会在潜意识里衡量对方将来是否会是称职的母亲或者父亲，是否会是合格的一家之主。
• Lao Yang thought as he subconsciously tightened his grasp on the rifle. 他下意识地攥紧枪把想。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

4 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

5 controversies   

争论

参考例句：

• We offer no comment on these controversies here. 对于这些争议，我们在这里不作任何评论。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史
• The controversies surrounding population growth are unlikely to subside soon. 围绕着人口增长问题的争论看来不会很快平息。 来自辞典例句

6 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。