死马理论（Dead Horse Theory）是一个讽刺性的隐喻，用来说明一些人、机构或国家面对显而易见的问题时，却装作看不明白，不愿承认现实，反而花样百出地试图掩饰和辩解。
其核心思想很简单：
如果你发现自己骑着一匹死马，最简单有效的解决方法就是下马并放弃它。然而，现实中却有很多人、机构或国家选择其他方式来应对，例如：
1. 给死马换个新鞍。
2. 给死马喂草料。
3. 换个骑马的人。
4. 解雇负责照料死马的工作人员，换一个新人。
5. 召开会议讨论如何让死马跑得更快。
6. 组建工作小组或专家委员会，对死马进行全面研究和分析。这些小组可能耗时数月，提交各种报告和解决方案。
7. 最终，委员会得出了一个众所周知的结论：“马已经死了。”
8. 即便如此，仍有人浪费资源、时间和精力，拒绝承认现实。他们为自己的行为找借口，甚至拿其他死马作对比，声称“马死只是因为训练不足，需要进行培训。”
9. 为此，他们可能增加预算，为“死马”开设培训课程。
10. 最后，他们干脆重新定义“死”这个词，以说服自己和他人这匹马还活着。
这个理论的教训是：
生活中，有些人宁愿否认现实，沉浸在徒劳的尝试中，也不愿从一开始就正视问题并解决它。
The Dead Horse (Dead_Horse_Theory ) theory is a sarcastic metaphor that illustrates how some people or organizations refuse to acknowledge obvious problems and waste time and resources in useless attempts to solve them. Rather than accepting reality, they lock themselves into ineffective strategies to justify their inaction or denial.
For example, when faced with a dead horse, the obvious solution would be to dismount and abandon it. However, some absurd approaches involve replacing the saddle, feeding the horse, changing the rider, or even firing the person in charge. These actions do not solve anything, but make it possible to avoid admitting that the horse is indeed dead.
Other more complex initiatives include the formation of committees or the conduct of lengthy and costly studies to analyze the problem. These efforts often end up confirming the obvious: the horse is dead. Despite this, decision-makers persist in denial, proposing solutions such as training for horses or budget increases, and even go so far as to redefine the notion of "death" to convince themselves that the problem does not exist.
This theory highlights a universal lesson: it's crucial to recognize problems as soon as they arise, rather than persisting in destructive denial. This avoids wasting valuable resources and allows efforts to be focused on viable solutions.
