美文赏析：那个老师说了假话

One of my favorite professors in college was a self-confessed liar.

I guess that statement requires a bit of explanation.

The topic of Corporate Finance/Capital Markets is, even within the world of the Dismal Science, (Economics) an exceptionally dry and boring subject matter, encumbered by complex mathematic models and obscure economic theory.[1]

What made Dr. K memorable was a gimmick[2] he employed that began with his introduction at the beginning of his first class:

"Now I know some of you have already heard of me, but for the benefit of those who are unfamiliar, let me explain how I teach. Between today until the class right before finals, it is my intention to work into each of my lectures…one lie. Your job, as students, among other things, is to try and catch me in the Lie of the Day."

And thus began our ten-week course.

This was an insidiously[3] brilliant technique to focus our attention—by offering an open invitation for students to challenge his statements, he transmitted lessons that lasted far beyond the immediate subject matter and taught us to constantly check new statements and claims with what we already accept as fact.

Early in the quarter, the Lie of the Day was usually obvious—immediately triggering a forest of raised hands to challenge the falsehood. Dr. K would smile, draw a line through that section of the board, and utter his trademark phrase "Very good! In fact, the opposite is true. Moving on..."

As the quarter progressed, the Lie of the Day became more subtle, and many ended up slipping past a majority of the students unnoticed until a particularly alert person stopped the lecture to flag the disinformation.

Every once in a while, a lecture would end withnobody catching the lie which created its own unique classroom experience—in any other college lecture, end of the class hour prompts a swift rush of feet and zipping up of bookbags as students make a beeline for the door.

On the days when nobody caught the lie, we all sat in silence, looking at each other as Dr. K, looking quite pleased with himself, said with a sly grin: "Ah ha! Each of you has one falsehood in your lecture notes. Discuss amongst yourselves what it might be, and I will tell you next Monday. That is all."

Those lectures forced us to puzzle things out[4], work out various angles in study groups so we could approach him with our theories the following week.

Brilliant...but what made Dr. K's technique most insidiously evil and genius was, during the most technically difficult lecture of the entire quarter, there was no lie. At the end of the lecture in which he was not called on any lie, he offered the same challenge to work through the notes; on the following Monday, he fielded[5] our theories for what the falsehood might be (and shooting them down "no, in fact that is true—look at [x]") for almost ten minutes before he finally revealed: "Do you remember the first lecture—how I said that 'every lecture has a lie?'"

Exhausted from having our best theories shot down, we nodded.

"Well—THAT was a lie. My previous lecture was completely on the level[6]. But I am glad you reviewed your notes rigorously this weekend—a lot of it will be on the final. Moving on…” Which prompted an arousing melange of exasperated groans and laughter from the classroom.[7]

And while my knowledge of the Economics of Capital Markets has faded in time, the lessons that stayed with me were his real legacy:

"Experts" can be wrong, and say things that sound right—so build a habit of evaluating new information and check it against things you already accept as fact.

If you see something wrong, take the initiative to[8] flag it as misinformation.

A sense of playfulness is the best defense against taking yourself too seriously.

I've had many instructors before and since, but few that I remember with as much fondness—and why my favorite professor was a chronic[9] liar.

Vocabulary

1. the Dismal Science: “沉闷科学”，即经济学，由19世纪历史学家托马斯·卡莱尔创造的一个贬义的替代名称;encumber: 阻碍，拖累。

2. gimmick: 花招，把戏。

3. insidiously: 暗中为害地。

4. puzzle out: 苦苦思索而弄清楚。

5. field: v. 圆满地答复，巧妙地回答。

6. on the level: 诚实的，可靠的。

7. melange: 混合物;exasperated: 恼怒的;groan: 呻吟。

8. take the initiative to do: 积极主动地去做。

9. chronic: 积习难改的，有瘾的。

译文

我上大学时最喜欢的教授自称是个说假话的老手。

我想这番言论还得补上点儿解释。

要说公司理财或者资本市场，那在沉闷科学(经济学)的世界里也算得上是数一数二枯燥乏味的了，都是些高深莫测的数学模型和晦涩难懂的经济理论。

K博士之所以让我念念不忘，是因为他从第一堂课开始就耍了一个小花招。他是这么做开场白的：

“我知道你们有些人已经听说过我了，但照顾一下那些对我还不熟的，我来讲讲我是怎么教课的。从今天开始一直到期末考试前，我会故意在每次课上讲，嗯，一句假话。你们学生的任务呢，除了其他要求，就是想办法找出我说的‘当日假话’。”

就这样，10周的课程开始了。

这是个聪明得近乎狡诈的伎俩来让我们集中注意力：通过公开邀请学生来质疑他的说法，他教给我们的绝不仅仅是那些直接的知识，而是更恒久的东西;他教会我们时刻审视新说法和新言论，看看它们是否与我们深信不疑的事实相符。

学季之初，“当日假话”一般都很明显，一说出口马上就有一大堆学生举手来指出不实之处。于是K博士笑笑，在黑板上那一部分画条线，然后说出他的招牌名言“很好!其实反过来才是真的。继续……”

随着学季推进，“当日假话”变得越来越巧妙：很多就这么从耳边悄然溜过，无人察觉，直到有个特别机敏的家伙打断讲课，指出假话所在。

有的时候，一堂课下来没人能找出假话，这倒带来别有一番滋味的课堂体验：换做别的课，下课铃一响学生就一阵骚乱，赶紧拉上书包拉链，飞奔出教室。

如果哪天没人找出假话，我们就都安静坐着，面面相觑，而K博士则洋洋得意，狡黠地咧嘴一笑：“啊哈!你们笔记里有个地方是假的。你们自己讨论看看是哪里有问题，我下个礼拜一再公布答案。就这样。”

结果我们必须苦思冥想，组成学习小组从各个角度来思考问题，这样下一周我们才能向他求证我们的理论是否正确。

真聪明啊!但K博士的小花招最狡猾、最坏也是最聪明的地方就在于整个学季最难的那堂课上却没有假话。那堂课结束的时候没人能找出假话，他就像往常一样让大家研究笔记;下个周一的时候，他还装模作样地就我们给出的答案(结果被毙了，“不对，其实这里是真的——看看[x]”)讨论了大概十分钟，最后他才公布真相：“还记得第一次课我说过什么来着?‘每次课都会有句假话。’”

因为苦思冥想出来的答案被毙了，我们无精打采地点点头。

“其实嘛——这是句假话。上节课全都是真话。但我很欣慰你们周末认真复习了笔记，很多内容期末考试会考。继续吧……”话音刚落，哀嚎声、笑声在教室回荡。

时光流转，虽然我资本市场经济学的知识已经所剩无几，但他留给我的真正财富仍让我受用无穷：

“专家”也可能出错，他们会说一些听起来正确的东西——因此，养成审视新信息的习惯并且看看是否与你深信不疑的事实相符。

如果你发现错误，就主动去标记好错误。

有一颗活泼轻快的心才不会太自以为是。

我的老师来来去去，一个又一个，而很少有哪位让我每每忆及就满心敬爱——这就是为什么说我最喜欢的教授是个说假话的老手。