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.

The example used by the author to explain the ways in which the pursuit of knowledge can be harmful, unless combined with wisdom, is

• A. the space mission
• B. medicine that lowers infant mortality across the world
• C. the progress of Germany
• D. none of the above

Hint:

The author imagines research in scientific medicine and its unintended result.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

The question asks us to identify the specific example used by the author to illustrate how the pursuit of knowledge can become harmful without wisdom. Let's analyze the passage and evaluate the given options. 

First, let's extract the section of the passage that addresses this concept:

The passage states: "Suppose, for example, that you are engaged in research in scientific medicine. ... You succeed, as modern medicine has succeeded, in enormously lowering the infant death rate... 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." Here, the author describes how advances in medicine, specifically lowering the infant mortality rate, can have unintended negative consequences, such as inadequate food supplies and decreased living standards.

Now, let's examine the options:

1. The space mission - The passage does not discuss anything about space missions.
2. Medicine that lowers infant mortality across the world - This aligns perfectly with the example given in the passage.
3. The progress of Germany - The passage makes no reference to Germany.
4. None of the above - Since one option clearly matches the passage, this alternative is not correct.

Therefore, the correct answer is: medicine that lowers infant mortality across the world. This is the specific example utilized by the author to demonstrate the idea that knowledge, when pursued without wisdom, can lead to adverse outcomes.

Answer 2

The first paragraph gives a worked example of knowledge without wisdom causing harm. The author picks scientific medicine.

1. The space mission: Not used in the passage, so this is wrong.
2. Medicine that lowers infant mortality: The author says modern medicine succeeded in lowering the infant death rate across Europe, America, Asia and Africa, which then made the food supply inadequate. This is the example. It is the correct option.
3. The progress of Germany: Germany appears later, tied to comprehensiveness and Hegel, not to this harm example, so it is wrong.
4. None of the above: Rejected, since option B fits.

The medicine example shows knowledge doing unintended harm, so the correct option is B.