On August 14th Jason Arday was found dead, apparently from suicide, at his home in London. For those who loved this 41-year-old Cambridge professor, it is a tragedy. For the world it is a warning of the destruction bad ideas can wreak.(对世界而言，这是一个警示：坏思想能造成多大的破坏。)
8月14日，杰森·阿迪被发现死于伦敦家中，显然是自杀。对于爱这位41岁剑桥教授的人来说，这是一场悲剧。对世界而言，这是一个警示：坏思想能造成多大的破坏。
The bad idea here is that people should be judged not by their individual character and abilities, but by their race, disability or other politically charged(带有政治色彩的) attributes. Mr Arday became the University of Cambridge’s youngest-ever black professor in 2023, before being engulfed(被吞没，陷入) by a scandal over plagiarism and faked research. He bore responsibility for his own downfall(垮台，身败名裂). Yet just as troubling is the way both his supporters and detractors even now reduce him to a symbol.(然而同样令人不安的是，他的支持者和批评者至今仍将他简化为一个象征。)
这里的坏思想是：人们不应被评判为个体品格和能力，而应被评判为种族、残疾或其他带有政治色彩的属性。阿迪先生于2023年成为剑桥大学史上最年轻的黑人教授，随后陷入抄袭和伪造研究的丑闻。他对自己身败名裂负有责任。然而同样令人不安的是，他的支持者和批评者至今仍将他简化为一个象征。
The most egregious(极其恶劣的) is Cambridge, which used him to repair its reputation for being white and elitist(精英主义的). He did not deserve the glittering prize of a professorship there. His peers had for some time privately fretted that he lacked the credentials(资历，资格证明) to support his public profile(公众形象). Journalists at the Telegraph later found over 100 passages from his PhD thesis that had been copied, some with small changes, from someone else’s.(《电讯报》记者后来发现，他的博士论文中有100多处段落是从他人论文中抄袭的，有些只做了小改动。) Others uncovered evidence in his published research of made-up(捏造的) quotes, data and funding claims.
最恶劣的是剑桥大学，它利用阿迪来修复自己白人精英主义的声誉。他不配获得那里的教授职位这一闪亮奖项。他的同事私下里早已担心他缺乏支撑其公众形象的资历。《电讯报》的记者后来发现，他的博士论文中有100多处段落是从他人论文中抄袭的，有些只做了小改动。其他人还在他发表的研究中发现了伪造的引语、数据和资助声明。
The content of their character
他们品格的内涵