Question:

Read the following passage and answer the question.

There are several factors that contribute to wisdom. Of these I should put first a sense of proportion: the capacity to take account of all the important factors in a problem and to attach to each its due weight. This has become more difficult than it used to be because of the extent and complexity of the specialized knowledge required of various kinds of technicians. Suppose, for example, that you are engaged in research in scientific medicine. The work is difficult and is likely to absorb the whole of your intellectual energy. You have no time to consider the effect which your discoveries or inventions may have outside the field of medicine. You succeed, as modern medicine has succeeded, in enormously lowering the infant death rate, not only in Europe and America but also in Asia and Africa. This has the entirely unintended result of making the food supply inadequate and lowering the standard of life in the most populous parts of the world. To take an even more striking example, which is in everybody's mind at the present time: you study the composition of the atom from a disinterested desire for knowledge, and incidentally place in the hands of powerful people the means of great destruction. In such ways the pursuit of knowledge may become harmful unless it is combined with wisdom; and wisdom in the sense of comprehensive vision is not necessarily present in specialists in the pursuit of knowledge.

Comprehensiveness alone, however, is not enough to constitute wisdom. There must be also a certain awareness of the ends of human life. Perhaps one could stretch the comprehensiveness that constitutes wisdom to include not only intellect but also feeling. It is by no means uncommon to find men and women whose knowledge is wide but whose feelings are narrow. Such people lack what I am calling wisdom. I think the essence of wisdom is emancipation, as far as possible, from the tyranny of the here and the now. We cannot help the egoism of our senses. An infant feels hunger or discomfort, and gradually with the years his horizon widens, and, in proportion as his thoughts and feelings become less personal and less concerned with his own physical states, he achieves growing wisdom. No one can view the world with complete impartiality; but it is possible to make a continual approach towards impartiality, on the one hand by knowing things somewhat remote in time or space, and on the other hand by giving to such things their due weight in our feelings. It is this approach towards impartiality that constitutes growth in wisdom.

The kind of specialized knowledge which is required for various kinds of skills has very little to do with wisdom. With every increase of knowledge and skill, wisdom becomes more necessary, for every such increase augments our capacity for realizing our purposes, and therefore augments our capacity for harm, if our purposes are unwise. The world needs wisdom as it has never needed it before; and if knowledge continues to increase, the world will need wisdom in the future even more than it does now.

What, according to the author, is the relationship between knowledge and wisdom?

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Check the final paragraph on why wisdom becomes more necessary.
Updated On: Jul 30, 2026
  • As human wisdom increases there is increase in knowledge created
  • As knowledge keeps on increasing there is lesser need of wisdom
  • As knowledge keeps on increasing there is a higher need for wisdom
  • As growth in wisdom stops, knowledge creation stagnates
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The Correct Option is C

Approach Solution - 1

The passage discusses the relationship between wisdom and knowledge. The author emphasizes that knowledge alone, particularly specialized knowledge, is insufficient for making wise decisions. Wisdom requires a comprehensive vision and the ability to view the world impartially, considering factors beyond immediate personal experiences. 

Several key points from the passage relate to the options given:

  1. The author states that with every increase in knowledge and skill, wisdom becomes more necessary. This directly supports the correct option, which is "As knowledge keeps on increasing there is a higher need for wisdom."
  2. The increase in knowledge can lead to enhanced capacity to realize purposes, which can be harmful if those purposes are unwise. Thus, growing knowledge without corresponding wisdom can create potential risks.
  3. The incorrect options are:
    • "As human wisdom increases there is increase in knowledge created": The passage does not suggest that wisdom directly leads to increased knowledge.
    • "As knowledge keeps on increasing there is lesser need of wisdom": This contradicts the passage, which states the opposite.
    • "As growth in wisdom stops, knowledge creation stagnates": The passage does not address this relationship.

In conclusion, according to the passage, as knowledge increases, the need for wisdom becomes more pressing to manage the potential implications of that knowledge effectively.

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Approach Solution -2

The last paragraph settles this. The author says that with every increase of knowledge and skill, wisdom becomes more necessary, and the world will need wisdom even more if knowledge keeps increasing.

  1. Wisdom increasing raises knowledge created: The passage runs the other way, from knowledge to the need for wisdom, so this is wrong.
  2. More knowledge means less need of wisdom: This directly contradicts the author, who says more knowledge needs more wisdom.
  3. More knowledge means a higher need for wisdom: This is exactly the author's point, since more power to act also means more capacity for harm if aims are unwise.
  4. Wisdom stopping stagnates knowledge: The passage does not claim this link, so it is wrong.

More knowledge raises the need for wisdom, so the correct option is C.

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