#8 - Concept Reference, Must Be True, Author's Perspective

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

The correct answer choice is (C).

Answer choice (A):

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C): This is the correct answer choice.

Answer choice (D):

Answer choice (E):

This explanation is still in progress. Please post any questions below!

[lathlee]

Hi. Q 8. Line 23 supports answer choice A and B, and Line 34 supports C)

How can i distinguish which answer choices are the correct ones?

[Malila Robinson]

Hi Lathlee,
For question 8 the author says that:
"While this rejection of the traditional belief that scientific views are objective reflections of the world may be fashionable, it is deeply implausible." This begins to argue against Answer choice A because it is saying that the thing that is implausible is that scientific views are objective.
The argument continues by saying:
"We (25) now know, for example, that water is made of hydrogen and oxygen and that parents each contribute one-half of their children's complement of genes. I do not believe any serious-minded and informed person can claim that these statements are (30) not factual descriptions of the world or that they will inevitably be falsified." At this point we can rule out Answer A because the author does believe that scientific truths are plausible. And we can rule out Answer B because the author does not believe that these scientific truths will be falsified.
The argument continues by saying:
"However, science's accumulation of lasting truths about the world is not by any means a straightforward matter. We certainly need to (35) get beyond the naive view that the truth will automatically reveal itself to any scientist who looks in the right direction; most often, in fact, a whole series of prior discoveries is needed to tease reality's truths from experiment and observation. (40)" This supports Answer C and so it is the correct answer.
Hope that helps!
-Malila

[CJ12345:]

Hi, Powerscore,
I chose D rather than C because, in line 15, passages said "philosophers of scientists argue that scientific views are not imposed by reality but are free inventions of creative minds" The author disagrees with the philosophers of scientists' view thus I thought the author would also reject their statement on "free inventions of creative minds" which corresponds to "creatives process" of D. Could you explain why this thought process is incorrect?

Also, I was hesitant to choose C because "obvious and transparent" might not be the same as "straightforward" or "automatically reveal itself to any scientists" in the passage. How to know they are talking about the same thing?

[Jonathan Evans]

Hi, CJ12345!

Excellent questions!

Here we are trying to infer something with which the author would most likely agree.

I chose D rather than C because, in line 15, passages said "philosophers of scientists argue that scientific views are not imposed by reality but are free inventions of creative minds" The author disagrees with the philosophers of scientists' view thus I thought the author would also reject their statement on "free inventions of creative minds" which corresponds to "creatives process" of D. Could you explain why this thought process is incorrect?

Let's break this apart to address your specific questions. You are correct that the author does disagree that (1) scientific views are not imposed by reality and that (2) scientific views are free inventions of creative minds.

Thus we may infer correctly that the author would likely agree that scientific views are (1) imposed by reality and (2) not free inventions of creative minds.

However, there are a couple issues we need to address:

1. "Scientific views" and "scientific truth" are not synonymous with each other. The question specifically asks about the author's views about "scientific truth." Thus, it would be prudent to be careful using this citation to provide evidence for this question.
2. "Free inventions of creative minds" is not synonymous with "creative processes." This is a bit of a shell game. It is possible for something not to be a free invention of a creative mind and still be the result of a creative process. For example, Newton might have employed a creative process in formulating his Law of Gravitation without this being a free invention of a creative mind.

Also, I was hesitant to choose C because "obvious and transparent" might not be the same as "straightforward" or "automatically reveal itself to any scientists" in the passage. How to know they are talking about the same thing?

This is an excellent question and a good opportunity to note how these ideas correspond.

From lines 32-37, we have evidence that "scientific truths" are not straightforward and will not
automatically reveal themselves to any scientist who looks in the right direction. These ideas are consistent and synonymous with the idea that scientific truths are "rarely obvious and transparent."

"Obvious" is effectively synonymous with "straightforward."

Something that "automatically reveals itself" is effectively synonymous with "transparent."

I hope this helps!