When a story is repeated often enough, it begins to feel like a fact. A classmate says the old factory is full of treasure. By lunchtime, half the school has a plan to climb the fence.
一个故事被重复得足够多次，就会开始像事实。一位同学说，旧工厂里全是宝藏。到午饭时，半个学校都在计划翻过围栏。
The next morning, our teacher asks a simple question: “Who saw the treasure?” Nobody did. The story came from a cousin, who heard it from a neighbor, who could not remember where it started.
第二天早上，老师只问了一个简单的问题：“谁亲眼见过宝藏？”没有人。故事来自一个表亲，表亲又是从邻居那里听来的，而邻居已经记不清它从哪里开始。
We visit the factory with permission. Inside, there is dust, a broken chair, and a nest of swallows under the roof. No gold. We feel foolish, then curious: why had we wanted the story to be true?
我们得到许可，去参观了工厂。里面只有灰尘、一把坏椅子，以及屋檐下的一个燕巢。没有金子。我们觉得自己很傻，随后又好奇起来：我们为什么那么希望这个故事是真的？
Our teacher writes three words on the board: source, evidence, motive. The treasure story gave us excitement and a shared secret. It asked nothing difficult of us. That, she explains, is why it spread.
老师在黑板上写下三个词：来源、证据、动机。宝藏故事给了我们兴奋感和一个共同的秘密。它没有向我们提出任何困难的问题。她解释说，这正是它传播得这么快的原因。
We still talk about the factory, but now we ask who told us, how they know, and what they gain. Not every exciting story is false. Still, excitement is not proof.
我们仍然会聊起那座工厂，但现在会问：是谁告诉我们的？他们怎么知道？他们能得到什么？并不是每个令人兴奋的故事都是假的。不过，兴奋本身并不能当作证据。