1, source
"Xunzi Outline": "Flowing pills stop at Ouwan, and rumors stop at the wise."
Vernacular translation: Rolling beads will be forced to stop uphill like bowls, and unfounded rumors will be stopped by wise people.
2. The harmfulness of rumors
Speech is a common tool to communicate feelings and thoughts. Although what people say is only their feelings, impressions and their own imagination, not the fact itself; However, according to the general principle of credit, listeners tend to believe what they hear. In this way, gossip may mislead the listener's judgment and lead to wrong understanding, wrong decision-making and wrong behavior.
Extended data:
Ancient stories related to rumors:
The Story of "Three Men Become a Tiger" in Warring States Policy
During the Warring States Period, there was an important minister named Pang Cong in Wei State. One year, he was ordered to accompany the prince to Handan, the capital of Zhao State, as a hostage. Before leaving, Pang Cong said to Wang Wei, "Your Majesty, if someone told you that there were tigers in the market, would you believe it?
Tiger boasted, Wang Wei certainly didn't believe it, so he replied, "How did this happen? I don't believe it! " Pang Cong added, "If another person told you that there were tigers in the market, would the king believe it?" Wang Wei thought about it and said, "Well, this is worth considering!
"What if another person said the same thing?" "Well, if all three people say so, it should be true."
Only after listening to Wang Wei's reply did Pang Cong understand the true meaning of this sentence. He said: "In fact, there are no tigers in the street, just rumors. Why does the king believe it, because there are more people talking about it? "
Today, I left my hometown with the prince and took Zhao Qianli as the hostage. The king can't know exactly where we are. Maybe someone will spread rumors that there are tigers in the city. Do you want to believe it? Therefore, in order to ensure that the prince can return to China smoothly in the future, I asked three people to spread rumors to the public that I just left Beijing, not to go to Handan. "
Wang Wei doesn't think so. Shortly after Pang Cong accompanied the prince to Zhao as a hostage, someone secretly slandered Pang Cong, saying that he was half-hearted and had ulterior motives in order to support the prince.
Many people talked about it, and Wang Wei actually believed it and ordered the prince to return to China, and the scallions were no longer reused. Pang Cong has given Wei Wang a "vaccination" in advance, and he can't escape the fate of "word of mouth", which shows the destructive power of rumors.
Baidu encyclopedia-rumors stop at wise men