This is an interesting painting and I want you to just take a look at it for a few seconds before we talk about it.
这是一幅很有趣的画 我想在我们讨论它之前 让你先观察几秒
I've looked at this painting a thousand times.
我已经看了一千遍这幅画了
I use it in my classes, I've seen it in art museums when it's been on view and there are so many subtleties.
我把它应用在课堂上 当它展览的时候我也在艺术博物馆里见到过 这里有太多的细微之处可供探究
But one of the assumptions that I made, not as an art historian
不以艺术史学者身份 而仅仅是以艺术品观赏者身份 我曾有过这样一个猜想
but just a viewer of art is that what I was looking at on the plate was a piece of meat like a piece of ham with and eye in the center.
那就是碟子上我所见到的是一片肉像是一片正中央有着眼睛的火腿片
And when I first showed it at one of my classes I said okay who's going to tell me what they?see
后来当我第一次在班里展示这幅画时 我说 好 现在谁能跟我说说你看到了什么

and someone raised his hand and said that's a big old pancake on the plate.
有学生举手说他看到有一块变质的大煎饼在盘子里
And I would have never considered that it was a pancake.
我从没想过那是一块煎饼
Is it a material distinction? Maybe, maybe not.
这是材质之间的区别吗 有可能 但也有可能不是
But he was so sure that it was a pancake and I was so sure that it was a piece of meat,
但是他确定那是一块煎饼 同时我则确信那是一片肉
while it might seem like a really subtle distinction it's not if you think about something like eyewitness testimony.
然而这区别看起来相当微妙 而若你考虑到像证人证词这样的情景时就不再是微妙的区别了
Well, he was wearing a red sweater.
比如 他那时穿着一件红色的毛衣
No, he was wearing a blue sweater. That's a big difference.
不 他那时穿着一件蓝色的毛衣 那就是一个巨大的差别
And one of the things that reminded me of the Magritte painting
这幅玛格丽特的油画使我想到发生在德州的一个犯罪现场
there was a crime scene in Texas and they were speaking to a witness and they said what did he look like?
警员正在与证人进行交流 询问嫌疑人的体貌特征
What did the suspect look like?
到底嫌疑人的体貌特征是怎样的
And the witness said he had a cowboy hat on.
证人说他戴着一顶“牛仔帽”
So everyone was looking, and in Texas lots of people wear ten-gallon hats.
于是所有人都在找一个戴着“牛仔帽”的人 而德州的人多是戴“牛仔沿帽”
So they were looking for a suspect with a cowboy hat on.
于是大家都是找一个戴着（有帽沿的）“牛仔帽”的嫌疑人
Well, it turns out the suspect was wearing a Dallas Cowboys cap.
那么 结果发现是嫌疑人戴的是一顶达拉斯牛仔帽（注：跟德州的不一样，达拉斯的是有帽舌）
So the choice of words it wasn't a cowboy hat it was a Dallas Cowboys hat.
所以正确的证词应该是一顶达拉斯牛仔帽 而不是牛仔帽
The idea of saying what you see and being sure about what you say that's how communication lines can get crossed.
如何表述你所见以及确信你所言会影响交流能否顺利得到答案
And another interesting thing about that Magritte painting that I found fascinating, one of the wonderful things about writing the book is people write to you.
而我从玛格丽特的画中发现很美妙的另一件事是和写书有关的一件妙事是读者会给你写信
They read your book and they send you their own observations
他们在读过你的书之后 会告诉你他们自己的发现
and I received an email from a woman who said has anyone ever told you
我曾经收到过一位女士的电邮 说之前是否有看这幅画的人告诉你
when they look at that painting and describe it to you that the fork to the right of the plate is turned upside down and the tines are facing into the table.
盘子右边的叉子是反着放的叉子的尖儿对着桌子
I had never noticed that.
我从没注意过这点
I had a look at the painting a thousand times.
这幅油画我看过上千遍
And again, material difference?
又来了 这是材质的区别吗？
No. Critical? No. Important? Yes.
不是 吹毛求疵吗 并不 重要吗 是的
It's one of those details because if someone said to me describe the silverware in the painting I would've said you have a knife and a fork.
这就是其中一个极易忽略的细节 因为如果有人请我描述图中的银器我会说图里的是一把刀和一把叉子
And sometimes it's those very small details of the tines facing the table that can bring a whole case together
有时正是那些像叉子尖儿对着桌子一样极小的细节
or crack a case or be that one detail that brings all the other pieces together.
能将整个案件化零为整或者破获案件 又或者会是那一个关键细节去使其他所有细节融合起来