原文: 10 Books that Screwed Up The World

Books are one of our greatest resources, but many times in history books have been written which are misleading or untrue. In some cases this has lead to widescale death and destruction and evil governmental regimes.

This is a list of ten of the worst books of this type - books that have done more harm than good. The common thread in all of these books is deception - invariably not intentional, but the consequences are the same regardless.

I have intentionally left off some of the more obvious choices - as they will almost certainly come up in the comments. This list is in no particular order.

On the list because: It inflamed witch hunts across Europe

Malleus Maleficarum (The Hammer of Witchraft) was a manual for witch hunters and judges to catch witches and stamp them out. It came out just prior to the protestant reformation and it was one of the most popular books amongst the reformers who were wanting to smash “evil” out of their countries. Between 1487 and 1520, twenty editions of the Malleus were published, and another sixteen editions were published between 1574 to 1669. This book single-handedly launched centuries of witch hunts.

On the list because: it turned out to be a creation of her own sexual confusions and aspirations

Margaret Mead was an American cultural anthropologist who traveled to Samoa to answer the questions on sexuality posed in America in the 1920s (particularly with reference to women). Unfortunately for Mead, the youths she interviewed in Samoa told her wild tales of sexual promiscuity and Mead reported it all as fact. One of the girls later said: “She must have taken it seriously, but I was only joking. As you know, Samoan girls are terrific liars when it comes to joking. But Margaret accepted our trumped up stories as though they were true.” If challenged by Mead, the girls would not have hesitated to tell the truth, but Mead never questioned their stories. According to Wikipedia: “The use of cross-cultural comparison to highlight issues within Western society was highly influential, and contributed greatly to the heightened awareness of Anthropology and Ethnographic study in the USA.” Interestingly, Mead was a highly regarded academic and had a large part in the formulation of the 1979 American Book of Common Prayer (Church of England).

On the list because: it was the inspiration for a long list of tyrannies (Stalin had it on his nightstand)

The Prince is a treatise meant for rulers who had shed all scruples - to a point that they might see evil as potentially more beneficial to society than good. Machiavelli hoped to start a revolution in the hearts of his readers, and he certainly achieved that. He proudly stated things that others before him had only dared to whisper, and he whispered things that had not even been considered. According to Machiavelli “it is not necessary for a prince to have all the above-mentioned qualities [merciful, faithful, humane, honest, and religious], but it is indeed necessary to appear to have them. Nay, I dare say this, that by having them and always observing them, they are harmful; and by appearing to have them they are useful.” Some of the people inspired by this book are Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, and Napoleon I of France.

On the list because: it helped spread Hitler’s genocidal anti-Semitism

In Mein Kampf, Hitler outlined his racist plan for a new Germany which included mass murder of Jews, and a war against France and Russia to make living space for Germans. At the time of publication the book was largely ignored, but once Hitler rose to power that changed. It is believed that over 10 million copies were in circulation in 1945. The book is largely influenced by The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind by Gustave Le Bon (1895) which suggested propaganda as a means to controlling the irrational behavior of crowds. In addition, Hitler drew on the fabricated Protocols of the Elders of Zion to give support for the need for his anti-semitic plans. Hitler speaks of “The Jewish Peril” which he believed was a conspiracy by Jews to take over the world. The book outlines the racial worldview in which people are classified by race as superior or inferior. In 2003 the sequel to Mein Kampf, Zweites Buch, was published in English for the first time. Zweites Buch (Second Book) expands on the original ideas of Mein Kampf and outlines further plans for a war with the United States and the British Empire for entire world domination by Germany.

On the list because: it preaches eugenics

Margaret Sanger is the mother of modern contraception and the founder of Planned Parenthood. In her 1922 book, The Pivot of Civilization, she outlined her theories of eugenics (control of the human race by selective breeding) and racial purity (3 years before Hitler did the same in Mein Kampf). The basis of her support of contraception was entirely due to her belief that inferior humans should be killed to enable a superior race to appear over time. Sanger did not just entertain popular ideas of her time - she was the champion of the cause. In her book she says: “the most urgent problem of to-day is how to limit and discourage the over-fertility of the mentally and physically defective.” She goes on to say: “possibly drastic and Spartan methods may be forced upon American society if it continues complacently to encourage the chance and chaotic breeding that has resulted from our stupid, cruel sentimentalism.” Birth control was, in her mind, “the greatest and most truly eugenic method.” Needless to say, Planned Parenthood today have tried very hard to distance themselves from their founder.

On the list because: it convinced the world that education is not about facts

In Democracy and Education, Dewey disparages schooling that focuses on traditional character development and endowing children with hard knowledge, and encourages the teaching of thinking “skills” instead. His views have had great influence on the direction of American education–particularly in public schools. This book could be considered to be the anti-classical education manifesto. And the consequence? A generation of youths with an inferior education which lacks a founding in solid facts and knowledge. Dewey was one of the three founders of the philosophical school of Pragmatism - a school of thought which proposes that “truth” is made and can change. The current curriculum in New Zealand is one which would please Dewey immensely as it is largely founded on his principles.

On the list because: it caused deaths through bad advice

Regardless of whether you agree with the methodology of Spock, no one can deny that many children probably died of cot death as a result of his advice to put babies to sleep on their stomachs. This advice was extremely influential on health-care providers, with nearly unanimous support through to the 1990s. Spock believed that babies on their back can choke on their own vomit - leading to death. Scientists eventually found that Spock’s advice actually lead to more deaths by suffocation. Estimates of the number of deaths caused by this bad advice are as many as 50,000. Spock also advocated a method of child raring that moved away from discipline based methods. Previously, experts had told parents that babies needed to learn to sleep on a regular schedule, and that picking them up and holding them whenever they cried would only teach them to cry more and not to sleep through the night. Spock taught the exact opposite.

On the list because: it was a propaganda book designed to incite racial hatred

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is a booklet that purports to describe a plot by world Jewry and Masonry to take over the world. Despite the fact that the booklet is a hoax, it was spread wide and far and believed by most Europeans to be true. Many people today still consider it be factual. It was instrumental to Hitler’s anti-Jewish efforts in Germany and it was used after the Russian Revolution to perpetrate hatred and violence against Jews. The booklet continues to be published and disseminated in many Middle Eastern states which are political enemies of Israel.

On the list because: it could win the award for the most malicious book ever written

This book has inspired some of the most brutal regimes in man’s history. Regardless of whether there has been a state which is a true Marxist state, this book has inspired so many evil actions that it can not be left off a list of this nature. Some of the principles found in the manifesto are the abolition of private ownership of land, confiscation of property of emigrants, heavy taxes, and the abolition of inheritance.

On the list because: It fuels fundamentalist attacks on Science

This book has helped to fuel (through pseudo-science and untruths) the idea that evolution is false and that a literal interpretation of the Book of Genesis is the only possible manner in which the earth was created. Despite much refutation from the Scientific community, many fundamentalists still use this as a “source” for proof that evolution is not true. The book itself was not peer reviewed as Behe claimed under oath, and the Science community has overwhelming rejected it.

译文: 让整个世界晕头转向的10本书

     书是人类最重要的资源之一，但在历史上，误导读者或虚假写就的书屡见不鲜。在某种程度上，这会引起大规模的死亡、毁灭性破坏和罪恶的政府统治。

     这里有张书单，上面的十本书就是这一类型，对人类的作用弊大于利。贯穿这些书共同主线就是欺骗性。虽不是有意为之，欺骗性却始终如一，不顾后果。

     我已有意删去一些更显而易见的选择，因为它们会在之后的评论中被提及。以下排名不分先后。

10

《女巫之锤》

海利奇·克拉马,雅各布·史宾格，1486年

上榜理由：在欧洲激起追捕女巫行动

    《女巫之锤》是一本女巫追捕指南，判断、逮捕并将她们彻底歼灭。这本书早于宗教改革之前问世，在那些想要将“邪恶”驱逐出他们国家的改革者中大受欢迎。1487年至1520年间，《女巫之锤》的20个版本先后问世，其余16个版本在1574年至1669年间出版，单单这本书掀起了几个世纪的追捕女巫大战。

9

《萨摩亚人的成年》

玛格丽特·米德 1928年

上榜理由：关于她本人对性的困惑和渴望的创作。

     玛格丽特·米德，美国文化和人类学家，通过萨摩亚之旅，回答了在20世纪20年代的美国所引起的性的问题（尤其给了女性读者参考）。不幸的是，对于米德而言，接受她采访的萨摩亚人告诉她男女混交这些放荡的故事，她如实地作了报道。后来，其中的一位女孩说：“她本该对此态度谨慎严肃，我不过只是开开玩笑。正如你所知，当开玩笑时，萨摩亚的姑娘可都是非常棒的说谎者。但玛格丽特却对我们编造出来的故事信以为真。”如果米德对她们有所质疑，姑娘们会毫不犹豫地告诉她实情，可米德却从未提出疑问。维基百科中有这样一段文字：“跨文化比较的作用极有影响力，突出强调了在西方社会出现的问题，加强了对美国的人类学和人种学的研究的意识，贡献颇丰。”有趣的是，米德在学术方面得到高度评价，并称她对1979年美国圣公会出版的公祷书（英国宗教）的形成产生了很大作用。

8

《君王论》

尼克罗·马基雅维利 1532年

上榜理由：激发一系列暴政的灵感之作（斯大林的枕边书）

    《君王论》是一本对写给那些无所顾忌的国家元首的书，因为他们潜意识地认为罪恶对社会而言比道德更有利。马基雅维利希望能在读者的心理掀起一场革命，而他也确实做到了。其他人只敢在他面前窃窃私语之事，他却骄傲地高调陈述，而他悄声所言甚至不曾被人考虑。据马基雅维利所说，“对于一个君主，他不必要具备上述所有的品质——慈悲，守信，仁慈，诚实，严谨，但只要看似具备它们，确实非常必要。不仅如此，我敢说，如果拥有这些品质并总是遵守它们，非常有害；如果仅仅是表面看来具备这些品质，它们就变得很有用。”得到这本书鼓舞的君王元首有：斯大林，希特勒，墨索里尼，拿破仑一世。

7

《我的奋斗》

 阿道夫·希特勒 1925年 

上榜理由：宣扬希特勒反犹太人的种族灭绝主义。

    在《我的奋斗》中，希特勒向新德国提出他的种族主义计划，包括大肆屠杀犹太人，向法国和苏联发动战争，从而为德国人争取生存空间。书在出版时很大程度上被人忽视了，但这一情况从希特勒上台后发生了改变。1945年的发行量就超过了1千万本。这本书很大程度上受到了1895年出版的古斯塔夫·勒庞的《乌合之众：大众心理研究》的影响，其中大肆宣扬如何控制乌合之众非理性行为的手段。另外，希特勒利用未被证实的《锡安长老会议纪录原稿》，为其反犹太的计划提供支持。希特勒认为“犹太威胁”是犹太人的阴谋，只为了接管整个世界。这本书在全世界范围里引起种族观念，即根据种族，人们被分成高等和低等。2003年，《我的奋斗》和《第二本书》第一次发行了英文版本。《第二本书》详述了希特勒的独创思想，并阐述了德国与美国和英国的进一步作战计划，以实现统治世界的目的。

6

《文明枢轴》

玛格丽特·桑格 1922年

上榜理由：宣扬优生学

    玛格丽特·桑格是当代女性生育控制的先驱者和计划生育的奠基人。在她1922年出版的《文明枢纽》中，她概述了优生学理论，即通过选择育种来控制人类种族；以及种族净化论（比阿道夫·希特勒早三年提出此言论）。她支持避孕，其原因完全出于她本人的信仰，即低等民族应被消灭，高等民族应该出现。桑格不仅仅对她那个时代的大众观念深刻思考，她还是优生优育事业的先驱者。在书中，她说到：“现在最紧要的问题就是如何限制和减少过度生育所造成的人类精神上和身体上的缺陷。”她接着说到：“如果美国社会沾沾自喜，继续纵容无序混乱的生育，从而导致我们的人种变得愚蠢、凶残、感情用事，那么猛烈的斯巴达式的解决方法将要在美国强制实行。”在她的脑海中，控制出生率就是“最伟大最真实的节育方法”。当然，现在的计划生育却竭力与它的创始者疏远。

5

《民主主义和教育》

约翰·杜威 1916年

上榜理由：让世界相信，教育和真理无关。

    在《民主主义和教育》中，杜威蔑视学校只注重学生传统人格的培养，教他们生硬的知识，而不是鼓励老师培养学生思考“能力”。他的想法对美国教育，特别是公立学校的教育方向产生了巨大影响。这本书可以被看作“反传统教育宣言”。但其产生的结果如何？接受低等教育的一代年轻人缺乏对真理和知识的扎实基本功。杜威曾是哲学实用学校的三大奠基人之一，在那所学校里，“真理”是可以被制造和改变的。现在，新西兰学校的课程就非常能取悦杜威，因为它的设立在很大程度上参考了他的理论。

4

《婴儿与儿童护理》

本杰明·斯波克 1946年 

上榜理由：给出错误建议，造成无辜死亡。

    无论你是否同意斯波克的方法论，但无人能否认，许多婴儿猝死也许是因为他的建议——让婴儿扒着睡。这一建议在卫生保健者中引起了极大反响，直到20世纪90年代，几乎仍获得一致同意。斯波克认为让婴儿仰着睡，会因呕吐而窒息，从而导致死亡。科学家最终发现，斯波克的建议最终会因婴儿窒息而造成更多的死亡。据估计，因这一有害建议而造成的死亡数达到50000人。斯波克在养育孩子方面建议，应脱离种种方法而产生的规矩。以前，专家们告诉家长孩子要学会有规律地按时入睡，一旦孩子哭了就把他们抱起来只会让他们哭得更凶，彻夜不眠。而斯波克的所教的方法恰恰与之相反。

3

《锡安长老会议纪录原稿》

作者不详

上榜理由：激起民族仇恨的宣传册

    《锡安长老会议纪录原稿》是一本手册，旨在描绘犹太人和共济会欲接管全世界的野心。尽管手册中的内容都是编造的谎言，但在传播甚广，大部分的欧洲人都信以为真。现在，仍很多人依旧认为它是真实的。这本手册成了希特勒在德国掀起反犹太人行动的工具，在俄国革命后，成了激起对犹太人仇恨和暴力的罪魁祸首。现在，中东一些政治上与以色列为敌的国家仍在出版和散布这本手册。

2

《共产党宣言》

卡尔·马克思，弗里德里希·恩格斯 1848年 

上榜理由：它可以摘得最恶毒书籍的桂冠

    这本书鼓舞了人类历史上最残忍的政权。无论是否存在真正意思上的马克思主义国家，这本书已经赋予诸多罪恶行径以灵感，因此它不会从这张书单上被遗漏。《宣言》中的一些原则如下：剥夺土地私有权，没收外来移民财产，课重税，剥夺继承权。

1

《达尔文的黑盒子》

迈克尔·贝希 1996年

上榜理由：掀起信奉正统派基督教的人对科学的攻击。

    这本书（通过假拟科学和非真理）从而为这样一种想法推波助澜，既进化论是虚假的，《创世记》的字面解释仅仅是地球被创造的办法。尽管受到了科学界的驳斥，但许多信奉正统派基督教的人还是把它看作推翻进化论为真的有力证据“来源”。这本书并没有在贝希信誓旦旦的宣示之下得到同行的评议，科学界仍对此极力反对。