I came across a wonderful Chinese proverb recently—one of those proverbs mysterious enough to demand an explanation and, even better, deliver with an excellent historical parable. From Wikipedia:
“Three men make a tiger” refers to an individual’s tendency to accept absurd information as long as it is repeated by enough people. It refers to the idea that if an unfounded premise or urban legend is mentioned and repeated by many individuals, the premise will be erroneously accepted as the truth. This concept is related to communal reinforcement or the fallacy of argumentum ad populum and argumentum ad nauseam.
The proverb came from the story of an alleged speech by Pang Cong (龐蔥), an official of the state of Wei in the Warring States period (475 BC – 221 BC) in Chinese History. According to the Warring States Records, or Zhan Guo Ce, before he left on a trip to the state of Zhao, Pang Cong asked the King of Wei whether he would hypothetically believe in one civilian’s report that a tiger was roaming the markets in the capital city, to which the King replied no. Pang Cong asked what the King thought if two people reported the same thing, and the King said he would begin to wonder. Pang Cong then asked, “what if three people all claimed to have seen a tiger?” The King replied that he would believe in it. Pang Cong reminded the King that the notion of a live tiger in a crowded market was absurd, yet when repeated by numerous people, it seemed real. Since Pang Cong, as a high-ranking official, had more than three opponents and critics, he was in fact urging the King to pay no attention to those who would spread rumors about him (Pang Cong) while he was away. “I understand”, the King replied, and Pang Cong left for Zhao. Yet, slanderous talk took place. When Pang Cong returned to Wei, the King indeed stopped seeing him.
It’s always worrying, of course, to learn that the initial deployment of a proverb wasn’t successful. (Then again, Pang Cong seemed to know that the King’s change of heart was likely in his absence, but left anyway.) But this ancient piece of Chinese wisdom is still crucially playing out in our culture today—social media specifically, and the Internet more broadly, are littered with reports of “tigers.”
I’m reminded too of warnings from Daniel Kahneman and others about the potentially insidious effects of familiarity, as they relate to cognitive ease. With enough repetition, certain facts and frameworks become embedded in our understanding of the world and how we navigate it.
A favorite example of mine is the long-debunked fact that “people swallow eight spiders per year in their sleep.” As a premise, this fact is absurd—as absurd as a tiger roaming the markets of the capital city. And yet, people are taken in by this alarming and (take a step back) obviously invented piece of nonsense.
But, as Pang Cong’s story indicates, aside from being aware of these tigers, there is little we can do to stop them, especially when we aren’t around.
Taylor Coe 