skg wrote:
All social systems are based upon a division of economic roles. The values of a social system are embodied in the prestige accorded persons who fill various economic roles. It is therefore unsurprising that, for any social system, the introduction of labor-saving technology that makes certain economic roles obsolete will tend to undermine the values in that social system.
Which one of the following can most reasonably be concluded on the basis of the information above?
(A) Social systems will have unchanging values if they are shielded from technological advancement.
(B) No type of technology will fail to undermine the values in a social system.
(C) A social system whose values are not susceptible to change would not be one in which technology can eliminate economic roles.
(D) A technologically advanced society will place little value on the prestige associated with an economic role.
(E) A technological innovation that is implemented in a social system foreign to the one in which it was developed will tend to undermine the foreign social system.
The key to this question lies in realizing that all technology/technological innovations are not labor-saving and hence do not lead to disappearance of economic roles.
Options A, B, D and E talk about technology, not about labor-saving technology. Hence, none of them can be inferred.
(A) Social systems will have unchanging values if they are shielded from technological advancement.
Social systems' values could change due to other reasons so don't even think about this.
(B) No type of technology will fail to undermine the values in a social system.
All technology is not labor saving technology. So ignore it.
(C) A social system whose values are not susceptible to change would not be one in which technology can eliminate economic roles.
When economic roles are eliminated, values change. If values do not change, it means technology is not eliminating economic roles i.e. the society does not develop labor-saving economic-role-eliminating technology. This is correct.
(D) A technologically advanced society will place little value on the prestige associated with an economic role.
Again, a technologically advanced society doesn't mean there are no economic roles. The roles could be different from the roles in a labor intensive society.
(E) A technological innovation that is implemented in a social system foreign to the one in which it was developed will tend to undermine the foreign social system.
Technological innovation doesn't necessarily mean labor saving technological innovation so ignore it right away.