“It is my intention to work into each of my lectures … one lie”
“我的计划是在每节课中都设计……一个谎言”
One of my favorite professors in college was a self-confessed liar.
我最爱的教授之一是一位自己都供认不讳的撒谎大王。
I guess that statement requires a bit of explanation.
我想这句话需要解释一下。
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.
企业融资/资本市场即使在整个沉闷科学（一种经济学）中也算是格外枯燥乏味的课程，加上复杂的数学模型和模糊的经济理论，更令人头痛。
What made Dr. K memorable was a gimmick he employed that began with his introduction at the beginning of his first class:
K博士之所以令人难忘是因为他在第一节课上介绍自己时，用了一个小花招：
“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.”
“我知道你们有些人已经听说过我，但为了那些对我不熟悉的学生，我还是要解释一下我如何教学。从今天起直至学期节结束，“我的计划是在每节课中都设计……一个谎言。你们作为学生的任务之一就是努力找到当天的谎言。”
And thus began our ten-week course.
这样，我们开始了为期10周的课程。
This was an insidiously 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.
这是抓住我们注意力的聪明方法，但又不显山露水——公然号召学生挑战他的言论，他教授的经验教训比课程本身更为长久，教会我们不断检查新言论以及我们已经接受为事实的观点。
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 … ”
在学期之初，当日谎言通常都很明显——立即就能让大多数学生举手挑战虚假信息。K博士会微笑，在黑板上该部分画一条线，然后说出他的招牌句子“非常好！事实上，反过来讲才正确。继续……”
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.
随着学期深入，当日谎言越来越微妙，很多谎言大部分学生都注意不到，直到某位格外警觉的学生中断讲课，指出虚假信息。
Every once in a while, a lecture would end with nobody 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.
有时，一节课上完了，却无人找到谎言，这就会形成独一无二的课堂经验——在任何其他大学课堂上，下课时学生都会脚步匆忙，合上书包，蜂拥至门口。
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.”
当没有人抓到谎言时，我们都沉默静坐，彼此对望，而K博士看上去很得意，狡猾地一笑，说：“啊哈！你们每个人的笔记中都有一处错误。相互讨论是哪里错了，下周一我会告诉你们。下课。”
Those lectures forced us to puzzle things out, work out various angles in study groups so we could approach him with our theories the following week.
这些课程迫使我们解决疑惑，在学习小组里从各种不同角度研究问题，这样下周我们可以用自己的理论说服他。
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 our theories for what the falsehood might be (and shooting them down “no, in fact that is true – look at “) for almost ten minutes before he finally revealed: “Do you remember the first lecture – how I said that ‘every lecture has a lie?’”
很聪明吧……不过，让K博士的技巧最阴险又最天才的却是，在整个学期中技术层面最困难的问题是，毫无谎言。在没有谎言的课堂上，他也用检查笔记来挑战我们；然后下周一， 他让我们把自己的找茬理论纷纷曝光（然后逐一击毙“不，事实上，那是正确的——看”），这样过去约摸10分钟，他最终揭晓：“你们记得第一节课吗——我不是说过‘每一节都有一个谎言？’”
Exhausted from having our best theories shot down, we nodded.
我们最完美的理论都被否决了，自己筋疲力尽，只好点头。
“Well – THAT was a lie. My previous lecture was completely on the level. 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.
“哈——那本身也是一个谎言。上节课完全正确。但我很高兴你们这个周末仔细地检查了笔记——那里面有不少期末考试要考的内容。继续……”这会让全班同学又是愤怒地抱怨，又是欢笑。
And while my knowledge of the Economics of Capital Markets has faded in time, the lessons that stayed with me were his real legacy:
我的资本市场经济学知识已经随着时间流逝而淡忘，但我记住的教训才是他真正的遗产：
- “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 flag it as misinformation.
- A sense of playfulness is the best defense against taking yourself too seriously.
- “专家”也会错，会说些听上去正确的东西——所以，养成习惯判断新信息，用你已经接受为事实的东西来验证。
- 如果你看到错误，主动指出来。
- 一抹游戏心态最能防止你太把自己当回事。
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 liar.
之前之后，我都遇到很多导师，但是没有几位让我回忆时如此喜欢——还有，为什么我最喜欢的教授竟然谎言不断。
