CARS Vol 2 Passage 11

Cars practice volume 2

Passage 11 (Questions 61–65)

Research traditions and theories can encounter serious cognitive difficulties if they are incompatible with certain broader systems of belief within a given culture. Such incompatibilities constitute conceptual problems that may seriously challenge the acceptability of the theory. But it may equally well happen that a highly successful research tradition will lead to the abandonment of that world view which is incompatible with it and to the elaboration of a new world view compatible with the research tradition. Indeed, it is in precisely this manner that many radically new scientific systems eventually come to be “canonized” as part of our collective “common sense.”

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, for instance, the new research traditions of Descartes and Newton went violently counter to many of the most cherished beliefs of the age on such questions as “humanity’s place in Nature,” the history and extent of the cosmos, and more generally, the nature of physical processes. Everyone at the time acknowledged the existence of these conceptual problems. They were eventually resolved, not by modifying the offending research traditions to bring them in line with more traditional world views, but rather by forging a new world view which could be reconciled with the scientific research traditions. A similar process of readjustment occurred in response to the Darwinian and Marxist research traditions in the late nineteenth century; in each case, the core, “nonscientific” beliefs of reflective people were eventually modified to bring them in line with highly successful scientific systems.

But it would be a mistake to assume that world views always crumble in the face of new scientific research traditions which challenge them. To the contrary, they often exhibit a remarkable resilience which belies the (positivistic) tendency to dismiss them as mere fluff. The history of science, both recent and distant, is replete with cases in which world views have not evaporated in the face of scientific theories which challenged them. In our own time, for instance, neither quantum mechanics nor behavioristic psychology has shifted most people’s beliefs about the world or themselves. Contrary to quantum mechanics, most people still conceive of the world as being populated by substantial objects, with fixed and precise properties; contrary to behaviorism, most people still find it helpful to talk about the inner, mental states of themselves and others.

Confronted with such examples, one might claim that these research traditions are still new and that older world views predominate only because the newer insights have not yet penetrated the general consciousness. Such a claim may prove to be correct, but before we accept it uncritically, there are certain more striking historical cases that need to be aired. Ever since the seventeenth century, the dominant research traditions within the physical sciences have presupposed that all physical changes are subject to invariable natural laws (either statistical or nonstatistical). Given certain initial conditions, certain consequences would inevitably ensue.

Strictly speaking, this claim should be as true of humans and other animals as it is of stars, planets, and molecules. Yet in our own time as much as in the seventeenth century, very few people are prepared to abandon the conviction that human beings (and some of the higher animals) have a degree of indetermination in their actions and their thoughts. Virtually all of our social institutions, most of our social and political theory, and the bulk of our moral philosophy are still based on a world view seemingly incompatible with a law-governed universe.

Null

The author of the passage characterizes the theory of quantum mechanics as one that:

A

most people accept even though it seems to conflict with common sense.

Answer choice eliminated

B

challenges the view most people have about the world in which they live.

C

is incompatible with the idea that we live in a universe governed by natural laws.

D

has led most people to change their world views.

Solution: The correct answer is B.

1. The author asserts that the common-sense view has been retained: “Contrary to quantum mechanics, most people still conceive of the world as being populated by substantial objects”.

2. The author uses quantum mechanics as an example of “cases in which world views have not evaporated in the face of scientific theories that challenged them”.

3. Quantum mechanics is characterized as a scientific theory of “our own time”. It is therefore included among the dominant research traditions within the physical sciences that since the seventeenth century “have presupposed that all physical changes are subject to invariable natural laws”.

4. The author asserts that quantum mechanics has not “shifted most people’s beliefs about the world”.

According to the author, our social, political, and moral beliefs:

A

are rooted in the idea that the same set of laws should apply to everyone.

B

often coexist with a broader system of cultural attitudes with which they are inconsistent.

Answer choice eliminated

C

conflict with scientific research traditions that have been accepted since the seventeenth century.

D

grew out of the acceptance of Darwinism and Marxism among educated people in the late nineteenth century.

Solution: The correct answer is C.

1. The words “apply to everyone” suggest that this rationale refers to civil laws, which are not discussed. The only popular belief mentioned is “the conviction that human beings (and some of the higher animals) have a degree of indetermination in their actions and their thoughts”. In differentiating among animals, this belief denies the universal application of natural laws.

2. Social, political, and moral beliefs are broad cultural attitudes. The system with which the author opposes them is “a law-governed universe”.

3. According to the author: “Virtually all of our social institutions, most of our social and political theory, and the bulk of our moral philosophy are still based on a world view seemingly incompatible with a law-governed universe”. The word still in this statement refers to the prevalence of this world view in the seventeenth century, when it conflicted with scientific insights which became the research traditions that have been dominant ever since.

4. The author asserts that “in response to the Darwinian and Marxist research traditions in the late nineteenth century . . . the core ‘nonscientific’ beliefs of reflective people were eventually modified”. There is no suggestion that such personal responses to new ideas resulted in general social changes.

If the public reception of Einstein’s theory of relativity repeated the reception that the author claims was given to Newton’s ideas, most people would:

A

accept the theory readily and quickly revise their ideas about natural laws.

B

resist the theory initially but gradually modify their view of the universe.

C

claim to believe the theory but ignore its profound implications.

D

reject its version of reality as contrary to common sense.

Solution: The correct answer is B.

1. The information that Newton’s findings “went violently counter to many of the most cherished beliefs of the age” and that these conceptual problems were “eventually resolved” through a “ process of readjustment” indicates that acceptance did not occur readily or quickly.

2. If Einstein’s theory were received as Newton’s ideas had been, the public would eventually resolve the conceptual problems it admittedly raised about many of their most cherished beliefs “by forging a new world view”.

3. If they were like people of Newton’s time, the public would not seem to accept Einstein’s theory without realizing its implications: “Everyone at the time acknowledged the existence of these conceptual problems”.

4. Newton’s ideas were not rejected, and implicitly, they were among those that “eventually come to be ‘canonized’ as part of our collective ‘common sense’”.

he claim that natural laws should be as true of humans as of stars, planets, and molecules is most in accord with the view that:

A

some scientific laws take a long time to become widely accepted.

Answer choice eliminated

B

some physical changes can be explained by statistical laws only.

C

in the seventeenth century, physical theories were thought to apply to all physical objects.

D

all physical changes are completely determined by natural laws.

Solution: The correct answer is D.

1. The universality of the laws governing matter is independent of human belief in it.

2. The conclusion that humans are as subject to natural laws as are stars, planets, and molecules depends on their being equally physical. The methodological issue of whether the demonstration of some operations of these laws involves statistics is not germane to the acceptance of humans as physical beings.

3. The vagueness of this rationale invalidates it, since apparently the evidence that reduced humans to the status of physical objects only began to emerge in the seventeenth century and its implications have not yet been completely accepted.

4. The premise that natural laws apply to all entities in the universe implies that natural laws determine all physical changes to these entities.

The author probably mentions that most people talk as if inner mental states existed in order:

A

to demonstrate the weakness of some scientific theories.

B

to provide an example of the application of natural law to human behavior.

C

to illustrate the persistence of beliefs that conflict with scientific theories.

D

to support the claim that behaviorism is a very new research tradition.

Solution: The correct answer is C.

1. In asserting that “most people still find it helpful to talk about the inner, mental states of themselves and others”, the author does not imply that the theory of behaviorism is weak but that the traditional concepts have strong social roots.

2. Behaviorist psychology is presented as an example of the application of natural law to human behavior. The talk about mental states is “contrary to behaviorism”.

3. The lines cited provide an example to support the thesis of the paragraph—that world views have often shown “a remarkable resilience . . . in the face of scientific theories that challenged them”.

4. In the final two paragraphs of the passage, the author argues against the argument that older world views persist only because insights such as those provided by behaviorism “have not yet penetrated the general consciousness”.