Unit 5 The Real Truth About Lies课文翻译综合教程三

1Unit5TheRealTruthaboutLiesRandyFitzgeraldAttheUniversityofVirginiainCharlottesville,psychologyprofessorBellaDePaulogot77studentsand70townspeopletovolunteerforanunusualproject.Allkeptdiariesforaweek,recordingthenumbersanddetailsoftheliestheytold.OnestudentandsixCharlottesvilleresidentsprofessedtohavetoldnofalsehoods.Theother140participantstold1,535.Theliesweremostoftennotwhatmostofuswouldcallearth-shattering.Someonewouldpretendtobemorepositiveorsupportiveofaspouseorfriendthanheorshereallywas,orfeignagreementwitharelative'sopinion.AccordingtoDePaulo,womenintheirinteractionswithotherwomenliedmostlytosparetheother'sfeelings.Menliedtoothermengenerallyforself-promotingreasons.Moststrikingly,thesetellers-of-a-thousand-liesreportedthattheirdeceptionscausedthemlittlepreoccupationorregret.Mightthat,too,bealie?Perhaps.Butthereisevidencethatthisattitudetowardcasualuseofprevaricationiscommon.Forexample,20,000middle-andhigh-schoolersweresurveyedbytheJosephsonInstituteofEthics--anonprofitorganizationinMarinadelRey,California,devotedtocharactereducation.Ninety-twopercentoftheteenagersadmittedhavingliedtotheirparentsinthepreviousyear,and73percentcharacterizedthemselvesasserialliars,meaningtheytoldliesweekly.Despitetheseadmissions,91percentofallrespondentssaidtheyweresatisfiedwithmyownethicsandcharacter.ThinkhowoftenweheartheexpressionsI'llcallyouorThecheckisinthemail”orI'msorry,buthesteppedout.Andthenthereareprofessions--lawyers,pundits,PRconsultants--whosemembersseemtospecializeinshapingorspinningthetruthtosuitclients'needs.Littlewhitelieshavebecomeubiquitous,andthereasonswegiveeachotherfortellingfibsarefamiliar.Consider,forexample,aSouthernCaliforniacorporateexecutivewhomI'llcallTom.Hegoeswithhiswifeandsontohismother-in-law'shomeforThanksgivingdinnereveryyear.Tomdislikesher“special”pumpkinpieintensely.Invariablyhetellsherhowwonderfulitis,toavoidhurtingherfeelings.What'swrongwiththat?TomaskedMichaelJosephson,presidentoftheJosephsonInstitute.It'saquestionwemightallask.JosephsonrepliedbyaskingTomtoconsidertheliefromhismother-in-law'spoint2ofview.SupposethatonedayTom'schildblurtsoutthetruth,andshediscoversthedeceit.Willshetellherson-in-law,Thankyouforcaringsomuch?Orisshemorelikelytofeelhurtandsay,Howcouldyouhavemisledmealltheseyears?Andwhatelsehaveyouliedtomeabout?AndwhatmightTom'smother-in-lawnowsuspectaboutherowndaughter?AndwillTom'sboylietohisparentsandyetbesatisfiedwithhisowncharacter?Howoftendowecomplimentpeopleonhowwelltheylook,orexpressourappreciationforgifts,whenwedon'treallymeanit?Surely,theseniceliesareharmlessandwellintended,anecessarysociallubricant.But,likeTom,weshouldrememberthewordsofEnglishnovelistSirWalterScott,whowrote,Whatatangledwebweweave,whenfirstwepracticetodeceive.Evenseeminglyharmlessfalsehoodscanhaveunforeseenconsequences.PhilosopherSisselaBokwarnsusthattheycanputusonaslipperyslope.Afterthefirstlies,otherscancomemoreeasily,”shewroteinherbookLying:MoralChoiceinPublicandPrivateLife.“Psychologicalbarriersweardown;theabilitytomakemoredistinctionscancoarsen;theliar'sperceptionofhischancesofbeingcaughtmaywarp.Takethepumpkinpielies.Inthefirstplace,itwasn'tjustthathewantedhismother-in-lawtofeelgood.Whetherherealizeditornot,hereallywantedhertothinkhighlyofhim.Andaftertheinitialdeceitheneededtotellmoreliestocoverupthefirstone.Whobelievesitanymorewhenthey'retoldthatthepersontheywanttoreachbyphoneisinameeting?Byitself,thatkindoflieisofnogreatconsequence.Still,theendlessproliferationoftheselittleprevaricationsdoesmatter.Oncethey'vebecomecommonenough,eventhesmalluntruthsthatarenotmeanttohurtencourageacertaincynicismandlossoftrust.When(trust)isdamaged,”warnsBok,“thecommunityasawholesuffers;andwhenitisdestroyed,societiesfalterandcollapse.Areallwhiteliestobeavoidedatallcosts?Notnecessarily.Themostunderstandableandforgivableliesareanexchangeofwhatethicistsrefertoastheprincipleoftrustfortheprincipleofcaring,liketellingchildrenaboutthetoothfairy,ordeceivingsomeonetosetthemupforasurpriseparty,Josephsonsays.Still,wemustaskourselvesifwearewillingtogiveourfriendsandassociatestheauthoritytolietouswhenevertheythinkitisforourowngood.Josephsonsuggestsasimpletest.Ifsomeoneyoulietofindsoutthetruth,willhethankyouforcaring?Orwillhefeelhislong-termtrustinyouhasbeenunder-mined?3Andifyou'renotsure,MarkTwainhasgivenusagoodruleofthumb.Whenindoubt,tellthetruth.Itwillconfoundyourenemiesandastoundyourfriends.谎言的真相兰迪·菲茨杰拉德1.在夏洛特斯维尔的弗吉尼亚大学里，心理学教授贝拉·德保罗组织了77名学生和70名市民志愿参加一个特别的项目。所有参加者写了一周的日记，记录下自己撒谎的次数和细节。2.1名学生和6名夏洛特斯维尔的居民声称没有撒过谎。其他140名参加者共计撒谎1535次。3.他们说的谎言里绝大多数在大众眼中都不属惊天动地的那一类。其中有人假装对自己的另一半或朋友表示肯定或支持，或对某位亲戚的观点佯装赞同。依德保罗之见，女性在相互交往中说谎主要是为了不伤对方感情，而男性间撒谎则多半属于自吹自擂。4.最惊人的是，这些撒了数以千计谎言的人声称，欺骗行为并没有让他们十分“纠结或愧疚”。这会不会也是谎言？有可能。不过，确有证据表明，这种撒谎也不眨眼的态度是很常见的。5.例如，加州马里纳-戴尔雷有一个致力于性格教育的非营利性组织——约瑟夫森伦理道德研究所曾对两万名初、高中学生进行过调查。92％的青少年承认在过去一年中对父母撒过谎，73%将自己描述为“连续撒谎的人”，意即每星期都撒谎。尽管如此，91％的参加者称“对自己的道德和人品还是感到满意”。6.想想我们是多么经常地听到这些话：“我会打电话给你”、“支票已寄出”、“对不起，他不在。”还有一些职业——律师、专家和公关咨询师——其成员似乎专门歪曲或编造事实以满足客户的需要。7.无伤大雅的小谎言无处不在，而我们撒谎的理由也大同小异。看看这个例子，是关于一个公司经理的，我就叫他汤姆吧。他每年都和妻儿到岳母家参加圣诞晚宴。汤姆