To believe a proposition, say corn flakes have health benefits, is to

Question

New Project RC Butler 2019  -  Practice 2 RC Passages Everyday   
Passage # 423, Date: 31-Oct-2019
 This post is a part of New Project RC Butler 2019 .  Click here for Details

To believe a proposition, say corn flakes have health benefits, is to accept it to be true. However, the question of belief is valid only for those propositions that are understandable. An understandable proposition is one that is expressed using correct grammar and known words.

The dominant view in the scientific community on how human mind believes or disbelieves an understandable proposition is the Cartesian hypothesis, propounded by the seventeenth-century philosopher René Descartes. He said that when an understandable proposition is presented to a human mind, the comprehension of its content happens automatically and passively; however, the assessment of the truth-value of that proposition is a later and deliberate act, the result of which is either belief or disbelief. Thus, this view holds that belief or disbelief in a comprehended proposition is created by rational assessment, and till such an assessment is made, the intellect neither affirms nor denies a comprehended proposition. It also suggests that the mental effort required to create belief and disbelief is the same: the effort required to assess the comprehended proposition.

In contrast, Descartes's near-contemporary Baruch Spinoza suggested that comprehension of and belief in an understandable proposition happen together, automatically and passively; he said that it is not possible to understand a proposition without, at least temporarily, accepting it to be true. On later, willful assessment, if one judges the believed proposition to be false, it may be unaccepted (disbelieved), and if judged to be true, one may continue to believe in it. Thus, as per the Spinozan hypothesis, the default setting of the human mind is to believe every understandable proposition that is presented to it; disbelief is possible but it comes – if it comes at all – from effortful, deliberate assessment done after the initial comprehension-belief.

Both hypotheses continue to have their proponents and opponents. It is, however, a common observation that doubt, suspension of judgment and disbelief are mentally taxing tasks while we naturally – effortlessly – accept and believe most of what we see, hear and read. Research has proved that we systematically err on the side of believing too much, as opposed to rejecting too much. This inherent credulity of the human mind is, in fact, the founding axiom of the fields of advertising and propaganda.   1  
 A 
 1. A supporter of the Cartesian hypothesis would probably agree with which of the following statements?

A. Understanding a proposition is one thing and believing another
B. Believing is the most effortful thing that a human mind does
C. Belief is more quickly and easily acquired than doubt
D. Human beings are more prone to rejecting than believing propositions
E. Human beings are skeptical and credulous in equal measure

2  
 E 
 2. Unlike the Spinozan hypothesis, the Cartesian hypothesis suggests that at any point in time, a human mind may contain some

A. ununderstood propositions that are believed
B. ununderstood propositions that are neither believed nor disbelieved
C. understood propositions that are believed
D. understood propositions that are disbelieved
E. understood propositions that are neither believed nor disbelieved

3  
 D 
 3. Which of the following statements about an understandable and false proposition is not supported by the Spinozan hypothesis?

A. Its comprehension is a prerequisite for its rejection.
B. Its comprehension does not require effort.
C. Its acceptance occurs before its rejection.
D. Its comprehension is automatically followed by its acceptance.
E. Its rejection does not happen automatically.

4  
 D 
 4. It can be inferred from the Spinozan hypothesis that when exposed to understandable but suspicious propositions, a person who is too distracted or tired to exert much mental effort is

A. less likely to comprehend them than when he is alert and mentally fresh
B. more likely to comprehend them than when he is alert and mentally fresh
C. more likely to be uncertain and uncommitted about their truth-value than when he is alert and mentally fresh
D. more likely to believe them than when he is alert and mentally fresh
E. more likely to disbelieve them than when he is alert and mentally fresh

5  
 A 
 5. It can be inferred from the passage that to make his target customers believe his advertisements, an advertiser should

A. convey the message only using words familiar to the target customers
B. convey the message using the traditional motifs of the target customers
C. not use any negative words in his message
D. not distract the customer's mind by use of images or stories
E. not overwhelm the customer's mind by presenting a lot of information

6  
 B 
 6. The author of the passage

A. supports the Cartesian hypothesis
B. supports the Spinozan hypothesis
C. has a neutral stance towards the two hypotheses
D. rejects both the hypotheses
E. belongs to the scientific community

Source:  Manhattan Review 
Difficulty Level:   650

Tracy95 · Accepted Answer

1. A supporter of the Cartesian hypothesis would probably agree with which of the following statements? 
=> In the second paragraph: "when an understandable proposition is presented to a human mind, the comprehension of its content happens automatically and passively; however, the assessment of the truth-value of that proposition is a later and deliberate act," 
=> So (A): Understanding a proposition is one thing and believing another

2. Unlike the Spinozan hypothesis, the Cartesian hypothesis suggests that at any point in time, a human mind may contain some 
=> Also in the second paragraph: "that belief or disbelief in a comprehended proposition is created by rational assessment, and till such an assessment is made, the intellect neither affirms nor denies a comprehended proposition." 
=> So (E): understood propositions that are neither believed nor disbelieved

3. Which of the following statements about an understandable and false proposition is not supported by the Spinozan hypothesis? 
=> In the third paragraph: "Descartes's near-contemporary Baruch Spinoza suggested that comprehension of and belief in an understandable proposition happen together, automatically", "it is not possible to understand a proposition without, at least temporarily, accepting it to be true."
=> So (D) is correct as it is not supported by the Spinozan hypothesis: Its comprehension is automatically followed by its acceptance.
 
4. It can be inferred from the Spinozan hypothesis that when exposed to understandable but suspicious propositions, a person who is too distracted or tired to exert much mental effort is 
=> Also in the third paragraph: "the default setting of the human mind is to believe every understandable proposition that is presented to it; disbelief is possible but it comes – if it comes at all – from effortful, deliberate assessment done after the initial comprehension-belief." 
=> As the default setting is to believe and it is only after effortful and deliberate evaluation that disbelief is possible, human is more likely to believe things when he is not at his best (distracted, tired) - (D) more likely to believe them than when he is alert and mentally fresh
 
5. It can be inferred from the passage that to make his target customers believe his advertisements, an advertiser should 
=> At first I was torn between A and B. Then I turned to one clue in the first paragraph: "An understandable proposition is one that is expressed using correct grammar and  known words " . Known words facilitates understanding and belief. So I chose (A).

6. The author of the passage 
=> Actually I got the wrong answer (C) (instead of B) as I failed to read closely the conclusion when I ran out of time. Though the first sentence of the final paragraph "Both hypotheses continue to have their proponents and opponents" shows a neutral stand, the following sentences seem to favor Spinozan hypothesis - "a common observation ... accept and believe most of what we see, hear and read".

sahejseli · Answer

1.  A supporter of the Cartesian hypothesis would probably agree with which of the following statements? 
Passage clearly says the following about the Cartesian Theory "the comprehension of its content happens automatically and passively; however, the assessment of the truth-value of that proposition is a later and deliberate act, the result of which is either belief or disbelief"
A. Understanding a proposition is one thing and believing another : Correct: Above statement from the passage reworded.
B. Believing is the most effortful thing that a human mind does : Passage does not say this.
C. Belief is more quickly and easily acquired than doubt : Incorrect: Assessment leads to believing or disbelieve. (Trap)
D. Human beings are more prone to rejecting than believing propositions : Does not relate 
E. Human beings are skeptical and credulous in equal measure : Does not relate

2. Unlike the Spinozan hypothesis, the Cartesian hypothesis suggests that at any point in time, a human mind may contain some 
From the passage: "Thus, this view holds that belief or disbelief in a comprehended proposition is created by rational assessment, and till such an assessment is made, the intellect neither affirms nor denies a comprehended proposition."
 Option E : Clearly mentions it: understood propositions that are neither believed nor disbelieved : OPTION B is a trap.

3. Which of the following statements about an understandable and false proposition is not supported by the Spinozan hypothesis?
 
I got this wrong, however, on close examining option D is the best choice, since, the passage states: "Thus, as per the Spinozan hypothesis, the default setting of the human mind is to believe every understandable proposition that is presented to it." Moreover, read the word 'NOT" carefully, you can rename the questions as  "All the statements about Spinzonian hypothesis are true EXCEPT"  for better understanding.

4. It can be inferred from the Spinozan hypothesis that when exposed to understandable but suspicious propositions, a person who is too distracted or tired to exert much mental effort is
 
Following lines from the passage: "Thus, as per the Spinozan hypothesis, the default setting of the human mind is to believe every understandable proposition that is presented to it; disbelief is possible but it comes – if it comes at all – from effortful, deliberate assessment done after the initial comprehension-belief."
 Option D:   rewords this: more likely to believe them than when he is alert and mentally fresh : Hence Correct.

5. It can be inferred from the passage that to make his target customers believe his advertisements, an advertiser should
 
Refer to the following lines from the passage: "This inherent credulity of the human mind is, in fact, the founding axiom of the fields of advertising and propaganda." Since, the passage initially talks about making the information easy for a user to understand/agree to it. 
option A: convey the message only using words familiar to the target customers: is correct

6. The author of the passage
 
Trick question indeed, refer to the following lines in the passage: " It is, however, a common observation that doubt, suspension of judgment and disbelief are mentally taxing tasks while we naturally – effortlessly – accept and believe most of what we see, hear and read." It directly gives us the authors view & states that the author is a tad bit inclined "to support the Spinozan hypothesis" which is option B. 
PS: Option C is trap choice, take your time to read the following line, which says "However"

M05 · Answer

I got the above question wrong. However, on further examining option D made sense because:

comprehension of and belief    in an understandable proposition happen   together  
and NOT comprehension is   followed   by its acceptance.

Would appreciate it if an expert could confirm the above line of thought is correct or not.

Thanks in advance!!

KunjP · Answer

I see the confusion in question 6. Some of my friends give a solution which is also correct but I have another point of view.
The explicit statement indicating the author's support for Spinoza's hypothesis can be found in the following line:
"Thus, as per the Spinozan hypothesis, the default setting of the human mind is to believe every understandable proposition that is presented to it."This line clearly aligns with Spinoza's view that comprehension and belief occur simultaneously, with disbelief being a result of later, deliberate assessment.
So answer is B.

To believe a proposition, say corn flakes have health benefits, is to

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Reading Comprehension (RC) Questions

To believe a proposition, say corn flakes have health benefits, is to

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards