CAT 2006 Question Paper
Our propensity to look out for regularities, and to impose laws upon nature, leads to the psychological phenomenon of dogmatic thinking or, more generally, dogmatic behaviour: we expect regularities everywhere and attempt to find them even where there are none; events which do not yield to these attempts we are inclined to treat as a kind of `background noise’; and we stick to our expectations even when they are inadequate and we ought to accept defeat. This dogmatism is to some extent necessary. It is demanded by a situation which can only be dealt with by forcing our conjectures upon the world. Moreover, this dogmatism allows us to approach a good theory in stages, by way of approximations: if we accept defeat too easily, we may prevent ourselves from finding that we were very nearly right.
It is clear that this dogmatic attitude; which makes us stick to our first impressions, is indicative of a strong belief; while a critical attitude, which is ready to modify its tenets, which admits doubt and demands tests, is indicative of a weaker belief. Now according to Hume’s theory, and to the popular theory, the strength of a belief should be a product of repetition; thus it should always grow with experience, and always be greater in less primitive persons. But dogmatic thinking, an uncontrolled wish to impose regularities, a manifest pleasure in rites and in repetition as such, is characteristic of primitives and children; and increasing experience and maturity sometimes create an attitude of caution and criticism rather than of dogmatism.
My logical criticism of Hume’s psychological theory, and the considerations connected with it, may seem a little removed from the field of the philosophy of science. But the distinction between dogmatic and critical thinking, or the dogmatic and the critical attitude, brings us right back to our central problem. For the dogmatic attitude is clearly related to the tendency to verify our laws and schemata by seeking to apply them and to confirm them, even to the point of neglecting refutations, whereas the critical attitude is one of readiness to change them - to test them; to refute them; to falsify them, if possible. This suggests that we may identify the critical attitude with the scientific attitude, and the dogmatic attitude with the one which we have described as pseudo-scientific. It further suggests that genetically speaking the pseudo-scientific attitude is more primitive than, and prior to, the scientific attitude: that it is a pre-scientific attitude. And this primitivity or priority also has its logical aspect. For the critical attitude is not so much opposed to the dogmatic attitude as super-imposed upon it: criticism must be directed against existing and influential beliefs in need of critical revision – in other words, dogmatic beliefs. A critical attitude needs for its raw material, as it were, theories or beliefs which are held more or less dogmatically.
Thus, science must begin with myths, and with the criticism of myths; neither with the collection of observations, nor with the invention of experiments, but with the critical discussion of myths, and of magical techniques and practices. The scientific tradition is distinguished from the pre-scientific tradition in having two layers. Like the latter, it passes on its theories; but it also passes on a critical attitude towards them. The theories are passed on, not as dogmas, but rather with the challenge to discuss them and improve upon them.
The critical attitude, the tradition of free discussion of theories with the aim of discovering their weak spots so that they may be improved upon, is the attitude of reasonableness, of rationality. From the point of view here developed, all laws, all theories, remain essentially tentative, or conjectural, or hypothetical, even when we feel unable to doubt them any longer. Before a theory has been refuted we can never know in what way it may have to be modified.
In the context of science, according to the passage, the interaction of dogmatic beliefs and critical attitude can be best described as:
According to the passage, the role of a dogmatic attitude of dogmatic behaviour in the development of science is
Dogmatic behaviour, in this passage, has been associated with primitives and children. Which of the following best describes the reason why the author compares primitives with children?
Which of the following statements best supports the argument in the passage that a critical attitude leads to a weaker belief than a dogmatic attitude does?
According to the passage, which of the following statements best describes the difference between science and pseudo-science? :
For the following questions answer them individually
Facts, which deal with pieces of information that one has heard, seen or read, and which are open to discovery or verification (the answer option indicates such a statement with an `F’).
Inferences,which are conclusions drawn about the unknown, on the basis of the known (the answer option indicates such a statement with an `I’).
Judgements which are opinions that imply approval or disapproval of persons, objects, situations and occurrences in the past, the present or the future (the answer option indicates such a statement with a J)
Select the answer option that best describes the set of four statements.
1.So much of our day-to-day focus seems to be on getting things done, trudging our way through the tasks of living - it can feel like a treadmill that gets you nowhere; where is the childlike joy?
2.We are not doing the things that make us happy; that which brings us joy; the things that we cannot wait to do because we enjoy them so much.
3.This is the stuff that joyful living is made of - identifying your calling and committing yourself wholeheartedly to it.
4.When this happens, each moment becomes a celebration of you; there is a rush of energy that comes with feeling completely immersed in doing what you love most.
Facts, which deal with pieces of information that one has heard, seen or read, and which are open to discovery or verification (the answer option indicates such a statement with an `F’).
Inferences,which are conclusions drawn about the unknown, on the basis of the known (the answer option indicates such a statement with an `I’).
Judgements which are opinions that imply approval or disapproval of persons, objects, situations and occurrences in the past, the present or the future (the answer option indicates such a statement with a J)
Select the answer option that best describes the set of four statements.
1.Given the poor quality of service in the public sector, the HIV/AIDS affected should be switching to private initiatives that supply anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) at a low cost.
2.The government has been supplying free drugs since 2004, and 35000 have benefited up to now - though the size of the affected population is 150 times this number.
3.The recent initiatives of networks and companies like AIDSCare Network, Emcure, Reliance-Cipla-CII, would lead to availability of much-needed drugs to a larger number of affected people.
4.But how ironic it is that we should face a perennial shortage of drugs when India is one of the world’s largest suppliers of generic drugs to the developing world.
Facts, which deal with pieces of information that one has heard, seen or read, and which are open to discovery or verification (the answer option indicates such a statement with an `F’).
Inferences,which are conclusions drawn about the unknown, on the basis of the known (the answer option indicates such a statement with an `I’).
Judgements which are opinions that imply approval or disapproval of persons, objects, situations and occurrences in the past, the present or the future (the answer option indicates such a statement with a J)
Select the answer option that best describes the set of four statements.
1.According to all statistical indications, the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan has managed to keep pace with its ambitious goals.
2.The Mid-day Meal Scheme has been a significant incentive for the poor to send their little ones to school, thus establishing the vital link between healthy bodies and healthy minds.
3.Only about 13 million children in the age group of 6 to 14 years are out of school.
4.The goal of universalisation of elementary education has to be a pre-requisite for the evolution and development of our country.
Facts, which deal with pieces of information that one has heard, seen or read, and which are open to discovery or verification (the answer option indicates such a statement with an `F’).
Inferences,which are conclusions drawn about the unknown, on the basis of the known (the answer option indicates such a statement with an `I’).
Judgements which are opinions that imply approval or disapproval of persons, objects, situations and occurrences in the past, the present or the future (the answer option indicates such a statement with a J)
Select the answer option that best describes the set of four statements.
1.We should not be hopelessly addicted to an erroneous belief that corruption in India is caused by the crookedness of Indians.
2.The truth is that we have more red tape - we take eighty-nine days to start a small business, Australians take two.
3.Red tape leads to corruption and distorts a people’s character.
4.Every red tape procedure is a point of contact with an official, and such contacts have the potential to become opportunities for money to change hands.
Facts, which deal with pieces of information that one has heard, seen or read, and which are open to discovery or verification (the answer option indicates such a statement with an `F’).
Inferences,which are conclusions drawn about the unknown, on the basis of the known (the answer option indicates such a statement with an `I’).
Judgements which are opinions that imply approval or disapproval of persons, objects, situations and occurrences in the past, the present or the future (the answer option indicates such a statement with a J)
Select the answer option that best describes the set of four statements.
1.Inequitable distribution of all kinds of resources is certainly one of the strongest and most sinister sources of conflict.
2.Even without war, we know that conflicts continue to trouble us - they only change in character.
3.Extensive disarmament is the only insurance for our future; imagine the amount of resources that can be released and redeployed.
4.The economies of the industrialized western world derive 20% of their income from the sale of all kinds of arms.
