练习
1.思考一下希腊哲学家爱比克泰德（Epictetus）说过的话“心智的显现有4种形式，事物是这样也是它显示的这样；或者它们既不是也不是显示的这样；或者它们是这样但是显示不是这样；或者它们不是这样但是显示是这样。正确的面对所有这些问题是一个智者的任务。”这强化了还是挑战了你在这章学到的知识？解释一下。
2.阅读下面一位记者及《偏见》一书的作者伯纳德哥德堡（Bernard Goldberg）下面说法：“这是小部分记者从来没有想过要披露给听众中普通大众的肮脏秘密：记者可以找到一个专家说出记者想要的任何内容——任何内容！只要不停地打电话，直到有一个专家愿意说你需要的内容，然后你告诉他你将带着摄影师采访他。如果你找到一个专家这样讲，“你知道，我认为统一税率可能会有用，原因是……’。你感谢他，中断电话，并且找到另一个专家。””这就是记者如何在客观报道的新闻下如何将自己个人的观点渗透进去的过程。”这个陈述体现了本章的主题的什么含义？解释你的答案。
3.在下面的每一个案例中，有些人认为他们知道一些事情，用你在本章学到的东西，讨论他们是否真的知道。
a.特德早上看到报纸说，他的一个亲密的好朋友因为抢劫了一些商店被捕了。特德非常震惊。“这不可能。警察搞错了，”他告诉他妈妈。“鲍勃和我是兄弟般的好朋友，我知道他没有犯罪。”
b.拉尔夫：过来，哈里，试一下我的止汗剂。它可以防止出汗。
哈里：谢谢，不用了。我不信任止汗剂。在我看来任何设计成阻碍正常身体功能的物品可能会有很大害处。如果它会导致癌症，我都不奇怪。
拉尔夫：不要傻了。我知道它不会导致癌症。像这样的产品在被允许出售前经过仔细的检查的。如果它会导致癌症，就会被禁止。
c.间：我刚刚读到一些证据说阿司匹林能够防止心脏病。珍妮：这都是胡说。我认为不可能。我叔叔吃了很多阿司匹林，去年因为心脏病去世了。
4.“某人被释放了，因为起诉强奸不成立”“揭穿了传统观念的真相”“前助手承认就立法者撒谎了”——每天的报纸上都有大量的这些故事，这些故事表明一些一周前、一个月前或者一年前被认为“知道”的事情如何被发现是错误的。在最近的报纸上至少找到3个这样的案例。
19世纪的美国幽默作家乔希·比林斯（ Josh Billings）写道：“不是一个人不知道什么让他成为了一个傻瓜，而是他知道什么让他成为傻瓜。”尽可能多地回忆你自己的经历，证实他的观察。
1982年底，南达科他州悄无声息地发生了一桩美国政府与美国印第安运动对立的乌尔特案。政府试图结束美洲土著团体对黑山国家森林公园中公共土地长达20个月的占领。该组织声称该地区是他们的圣地——他们的出生地，他们祖先的墓地，以及他们宇宙的中心——因此应该成为永久的，以宗教为基础的美洲土著社区。政府坚持认为该团体对该土地没有合法拥有权。在一个类似这样的案例中，你认为应该考虑什么因素，以及什么解决办法最有利于司法公正？回答时，确定小心地区分什么是你知道的，什么是你的假设，猜测或者推测。回答这些问题后，在互联网上找到最新的这个故事的版本进行对比。用这个条款进行搜索“美洲印第安人黑山国家森林公园运动”
近年来，有很多用精神病作为法庭抗辩的讨论。许多人认为应该废除它，但其他许多人认为它是任何合理刑事司法制度的一个重要组成部分。你的观点是什么？确定小心地区分什么是你知道的，什么是你的假设，你的猜测。如果你知道的非常有限，你可能要做一些研究。
集体讨论练习：确定你是否知道下面的每一个陈述是否准确。和两三个同学讨论你的决定。确定从猜测和假设中区分你知道的。
a.大多数罪犯来自于低收入背景人群。
b.非洲裔美国人比白人更多的成为犯罪的受害者。
c.美国宪法保证每个公民都有权利拥有一把手枪。
d.媒体中的暴力反映了现实生活中的暴力。
原文：
Applications
- Consider this statement by Greek philosopher Epictetus: “Appearances to the mind are of four kinds. Things are either what they appear to be; or they neither are nor appear to be; or they are and do not appear to be; or they are not and yet appear to be. Rightly to aim in all these cases is the wise man’s task.” Does this reinforce or challenge what you learned in this chapter? Explain.
- Read the following comment by Bernard Goldberg, a journalist and author of Bias: “Here’s one of those dirty little secrets journalists are never sup- posed to reveal to the regular folks out there in the audience: a reporter can find an expert to say anything the reporter wants—anything! Just keep on calling until one of the experts says what you need him to say and tell him you’ll be right down with a camera crew to interview him. If you find an expert who says, ‘You know, I think that flat tax just might work and here’s why . . .’ you thank him, hang up, and find another expert. It’s how journalists sneak their own personal views into stories in the guise of objective news reporting.”24 What implications does this statement have for the subject of this chapter? Explain your answer.
- In each of the following cases, someone believes he or she knows something. In light of what you learned in this chapter, discuss whether the person really does.
a. Ted reads in the morning newspaper that a close friend of his has been arrested and charged with burglarizing a number of stores. Ted is shocked. “It’s impossible. The police have made a mistake,” he tells his mother. “Bob and I have been as close as brothers. I just know he’s not guilty.”
b. Ralph: Here, Harry, try my antiperspirant. It really stops wetness.
Harry: No, thanks. I’m suspicious of antiperspirants. It seems to me that anything designed to block a normal body function may do a lot of harm. I wouldn’t be surprised if it caused cancer.
Ralph: Don’t be foolish. I know it doesn’t cause cancer. Products like these are carefully tested before they’re allowed to be sold. If it caused cancer, it would be banned.
c. Jane: I just read there’s some evidence that aspirin can prevent heart attacks. Jenny: That’s a lot of nonsense. I know it can’t. My uncle took lots of aspirin and he died of a heart attack last year. - “Man Is Released in Wrong Rape Charges,” “Traditional Idea Debunked,” “Ex-Aide Admits Lying About Lawmakers”—daily newspapers contain numerous stories like these, stories showing how what was “known” a week, a month, or years ago has been found to be false. Find at least three examples of such stories in current or recent newspapers.
- “It ain’t what a man doesn’t know that makes him a fool, but what he does know that ain’t so,” wrote Josh Billings, a nineteenth-century American humorist. Recall as many occasions as you can in which your own experience confirmed his observation.
- A court case pitting the U.S. government against the American Indian Movement was conducted quietly in South Dakota in late 1982. The government sought to end the Native American group’s twenty-month occupation of public land in the Black Hills National Forest. The group claimed that the area was
a holy land to them—their birthplace, the graveyard of their ancestors, and the center of their universe—and therefore should be turned into a permanent, religion-based Native American community. The government maintained that the group had no legal claim to the land. What factors do you think should be considered in a case like this, and what solution would best serve the interests of justice? In answering, be sure to distinguish carefully between what you know and what you assume, guess, or speculate. After answering these questions, check out the most up-to-date version of the story on the Internet. Use the search term “American Indian Movement Black Hills National Forest.” - In recent years there has been much discussion of the insanity plea as a legal defense. Many believe it should be abolished, but many others regard it as an essential part of any reasonable criminal justice system. What is your position? In answering, be sure to distinguish carefully between what you know and what you assume or guess. If your knowledge is very limited, you might want to do some research.
- Group discussion exercise: Decide if you know whether each of the follow- ing statements is accurate. Discuss your decisions with two or three classmates. Be sure to distinguish knowing from guessing or assuming.
a. Most criminals come from lower economic backgrounds.
b. African Americans are victims of crimes more often than are whites.
c. The U.S. Constitution guarantees every citizen the right to own a handgun.
d. Violence in the media is responsible for real-life violence.
