Creativity is a frequent element in the mythology, philosophy, or religion of many cultures, and it is fair to say that it is a malleable concept that has fascinated mankind for centuries. Among a manifold of definitions, creativity can be defined as a cognitive process to generate novel or unconventional solutions. This cognitive process relies on two essential mechanisms: (i) divergent thinking, which generates original, new ideas and (ii) convergent thinking, which logically evaluates a variety of possible solutions to find the optimal one. For instance, philosophers such as Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans contemplated beauty as an objective principle that maintains harmony, order, and balance. From beauty, however, it is only a small step to creativity—people admire the beauty of artifacts of various kinds but very often these artifacts are the product of a creative process undertaken by an artist. And, creativity and beauty are not restricted to the liberal arts only. Many theories in science are considered to be the outcome of an equally creative process and people often mention the elegance or beauty of a theory. In the more recent mid-1980s, for instance, science encountered a discourse with beauty and the creative forces in nature through chaos theory, the inspirational field of science that captured, among many other things, the dynamic of natural systems in images, called fractals, of astonishing beauty. Creativity has had strong ties to computing for some time. The goal of web design, for instance, is not to add to the functionality of an application but to make an application aesthetically pleasing and accessible to its users. This does not mean that the production of computer code is a mundane task: on the contrary, many regard good coding as a highly creative activity. As another example, take the field of humanoid robotics where the physical appearance of a robot, its gestures, or its tone of voice may have an impact on user acceptance, e.g., in health care. Computational creativity, which is a relatively young field, relates to many of these issues. The field, which by its very nature is a multidisciplinary scientific endeavor, carries the vision to better understand human creativity and to construct, via computers and intelligent algorithms, artifacts demonstrating human-level creativity or tools that are able to support the creative processes of humans. 1 1. The passage indicates that the philosopher Pythagoras would agree with which of the following statements? I. Beauty and creativity are essentially the same concept. II. Beauty is a principle unaffected by interpretations of it that are conflicting. III. A person’s well-being will be supported if he watches a beautiful sunset or witnesses an act of kindness. A) I only B) II only C) I,II, and III D) I and II only E) II and III only 2 2. In the first paragraph of the passage, the author is primarily concerned with A) summarizing the views of an important historical figure B) analyzing the contradictions inherent in a hypothesis C) drawing a parallel between two concepts D) discussing the applications of a concept E) establishing a system of classification 3 3. The author implies that which of the following is a likely argument from a reader in response to an assertion in the passage? A) Web pages should be visually appealing as well as easy to use. B) It is unlikely that robots, no matter how technologically advanced, will ever take the place of nurses. C) Though remarkable for its beautiful images, chaos theory has few scientific applications. D) Applying wisdom learned from ancient philosophers to modern computing is problematic. E) Though computational creativity produces useful creative tools, working in the field can be monotonous. 4 4. It can be inferred from the passage that the author believes which of the following to be a likely result of computational creativity? A) A popular web page that has several new features added to it. B) An automated cash machine that dispenses cash 50% faster than its predecessor. C) A new mobile phone that becomes part of a work of modern art. D) A robot that can dispense the appropriate medication to a hospital patient. E) An algorithm that successfully models the frequency of ocean waves. RC Butler 2023 - Practice Two RC Passages Everyday. Passage # 265 Date: 04 Aug-2023 This question is part of RC Butler 2023 . Click here for Details

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Creativity is a frequent element in the mythology, philosophy, or

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SINFULVEINS

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17 Jul 2025, 04:08

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I think you can eliminate B D E, for q3 but I really don't see how you can tell A and C apart. I marked A because it's given that creativity is supposed to create solutions which implies that the website should be easy to use and not only aesthetic, which makes what the author said debatable and hence creating an argument.

Idk why it's C but I guess the same "creativity is supposed to create solutions and not only look beautiful" thing applies for it as well. However, option C says that chaos theory does not have actual applications despite looking beautiful. Now, how is the reader supposed to know that chaos theory was not useful? The passage makes some statements about chaos theory and why do you expect the reader to argue over something they don't understand?

Unless anybody here has an actual explanation for C, if this passage and q come in any exam I would still mark A as it makes way more sense.

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The assumption in this explanation is that watching something harmonious, orderly and balanced can support one's well-being, but this assumption can not be inferred from Pythagoras' saying.

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EXPLANATION QUESTION #1

The author says that Pythagoras thought of beauty as an objective (based on fact) principle, or one that is not affected by differing opinions. The author also says that Pythagoras believed beauty “maintains harmony, order, and balance,” which supports the notion that a person’s well-being will be supported by watching something beautiful (like a sunset or an act of kindness).

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17 Oct 2025, 09:19

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SINFULVEINS

The author makes an assertion in the second paragraph about web design: "The goal of web design, for instance, is not to add to the functionality of an application but to make an application aesthetically pleasing and accessible to its users."

This statement implies that web design's purpose is purely aesthetic and accessibility-focused, not functional. A reader might naturally respond with option A: "Web pages should be visually appealing as well as easy to use." This represents a counterargument suggesting that web design should balance both visual appeal AND usability, challenging the author's either/or framing.

Reasoning: The author positions aesthetic appeal and accessibility as if they're separate from functionality, but a reader might argue that visual appeal and ease of use should go hand-in-hand with functionality rather than being the sole focus. The phrase "as well as" in option A suggests this complementary relationship rather than an exclusive one.

Options B and C relate to other examples (robotics and chaos theory) but don't directly counter specific assertions made by the author. Option D about ancient philosophers isn't addressed in the passage. Option E about monotonous work isn't implied as a concern the author raises.

The answer should be A. The passage's claim that web design aims purely for aesthetics and accessibility (rather than functionality) would naturally prompt a reader to argue that visual appeal should complement usability, not replace functional considerations.

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all answers seem ambiguous

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