Instructions

Socrates believed that akrasia (meaning procrastination) was, strictly speaking, impossible, since we could not want what is bad for us; if we act against our own interests, it must be because we don’t know what’s right. Loewenstein, similarly, is inclined to see the procrastinator as led astray by the “visceral” rewards of the present. As the nineteenthcentury Scottish economist John Rae put it, “The prospects of future good, which future years may hold on us, seem at such a moment dull and dubious, and are apt to be slighted, for objects on which the daylight is falling strongly, and showing us in all their freshness just within our grasp.” Loewenstein also suggests that our memory for the intensity of visceral rewards is deficient: when we put off preparing for that meeting by telling ourselves that we’ll do it tomorrow, we fail to take into account that tomorrow the temptation to put off work will be just as strong.

Ignorance might also affect procrastination through what the social scientist Jon Elster calls “the planning fallacy.” Elster thinks that people underestimate the time “it will take them to complete a given task, partly because they fail to take account of how long it has taken them to complete similar projects in the past and partly because they rely on smooth scenarios in which accidents or unforeseen problems never occur.”

Question 16

According to the passage, in regard to time, which of the following statements gives the BEST reason for procrastination?

Solution

The passage suggests that procrastination can be influenced by the tendency of individuals to underestimate the time required to complete a given task. This underestimation is attributed to a failure to consider past experiences with similar projects and a reliance on overly optimistic scenarios where potential obstacles or unforeseen problems are not taken into account. Therefore, the passage implies that one of the reasons for procrastination is a systemic miscalculation of the time needed for specific tasks, making option D the most accurate and comprehensive choice.

The passage doesn't emphasize estimation based on the novelty of the task (Option A) nor does it discuss a linear perception of time within a task (Option B).

Option C:The passage discusses the planning fallacy, where time is inadequately planned, not the absence of planning.

Option D:The passage highlights the planning fallacy, indicating that time is considered but often underestimated for specific tasks.


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