Read the following passage and answer the THREE questions that follow.
Because itâs so easy to judge the idiocy of others, it may be sorely tempting to think this doesnât apply to you. But the problem of unrecognized ignorance is one that visits us all. And over the years, Iâve become convinced of one key, overarching fact about the ignorant mind. One should not think of it as uninformed. Rather, one should think of it as misinformed.
An ignorant mind is precisely not a spotless, empty vessel, but one thatâs filled with the clutter of irrelevant or misleading life experiences, theories, facts, intuitions, strategies, algorithms, heuristics, metaphors, and hunches that regrettably have the look and feel of useful and accurate knowledge. This clutter is an unfortunate by-product of one of our greatest strengths as a species. We are unbridled pattern recognizers and profligate theorizers. Often, our theories are good enough to get us through the day, or at least to an age when we can procreate. But our genius for creative storytelling, combined with our inability to detect our own ignorance, can sometimes lead to situations that are embarrassing, unfortunate, or downright dangerousâespecially in a technologically advanced, complex democratic society that occasionally invests mistaken popular beliefs with immense destructive power. As the humorist Josh Billings once put it, âIt ainât what you donât know that gets you into trouble. Itâs what you know for sure that just ainât so.â (Ironically, one thing many people âknowâ about this quote is that it was first uttered by Mark Twain or Will Rogersâwhich just ainât so.)
Because of the way we are built, and because of the way we learn from our environment, we are all engines of misbelief. And the better we understand how our wonderful yet kludge-ridden, Rube Goldberg engine works, the better weâas individuals and as a societyâcan harness it to navigate toward a more objective understanding of the truth.
With which of the following statements will the author agree the MOST?
Option B is the correct answer.
This statement aligns closely with the author's emphasis on the potential for misbelief due to our inclination towards pattern recognition and theorizing. The passage discusses how our ability to recognize patterns can lead to the acceptance of misleading or irrelevant information as accurate knowledge. Therefore, being aware that the patterns we perceive may not always represent reality is in line with the author's argument about the nature of ignorance and disbelief.
The author would not agree with options A, C, D, and E.
Hint: We can eliminate options A, C, D and E based on extreme and wrong answer options.
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