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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does science seek, in Wilson's account?
(a) Interesting hypotheses.
(b) The mind of God.
(c) Objective truth based on hypothesis.
(d) Probably hypothesis.

2. How can science help us, in Wilson's account?
(a) Science can show us how our impressions are created by our feelings.
(b) Science can expand the limits of what we can see.
(c) Science can give us better stories to tell about psychological nature.
(d) Science can reveal the extent of human powerlessness.

3. When was complexity theory formed?
(a) The 1970s.
(b) The 1950s.
(c) The 1920s.
(d) The 1890s.

4. What does Wilson say the standards that measure scientific knowledge should be based on?
(a) Mathematics.
(b) Hypotheses.
(c) Something real.
(d) Theories.

5. When did the Enlightenment end, in Wilson's account?
(a) 1742.
(b) 1776.
(c) 1789.
(d) 1794.

6. What did Laplace pioneer?
(a) The use of telescopes in astronomy.
(b) The use of probability in physics.
(c) The notion of inalienable human rights.
(d) The use of statistics in politics.

7. Why does Wilson take up the example of dreams?
(a) To demonstrate man's different ways of knowing.
(b) To show that Freud's unscientific methods make his assumptions wrong.
(c) To demonstrate the correct way to analyze brain chemicals.
(d) To show that Freud discovered things he didn't understand himself.

8. Where is the seat of consciousness in the brain?
(a) In the hind-brain.
(b) There is no center of consciousness.
(c) In the mid-brain.
(d) In the fore-brain.

9. What is the goal, in Wilson's account, of molecular research on human cells?
(a) Discovering new life forms.
(b) Curing cancer.
(c) Producing organs.
(d) Recreating human tissue from cell cultures.

10. What accomplishment does Wilson say Einstein strove for in his work?
(a) Unify space, time and motion.
(b) Find the singularity at the beginning of the universe.
(c) Locate the missing mass in the universe.
(d) Express the universe in a mathematical formula.

11. Wilson says that biological classification is based on the "Origin of Species" and what?
(a) Systematics.
(b) Systems theory.
(c) Military organization.
(d) Dianetics.

12. What did the idea of intellectual unity foster in the Enlightenment?
(a) Diplomacy.
(b) Racial supremacy.
(c) Human rights.
(d) European supremacy.

13. What is the only way to get a clear picture of the world, in Wilson's account?
(a) To add philosophy and ethics to all natural sciences.
(b) To integrate natural science with social sciences and humanities.
(c) To separate humanities from natural science.
(d) To divorce the natural science from social sciences.

14. How did Wilson react against the religion he inherited?
(a) He tried to reconcile his science with his faith.
(b) He embraced it but insisted on the ability to hold exclusive beliefs.
(c) He maintained his faith in spite of his scientific research.
(d) He rejected literal interpretation of the Bible.

15. What force did John Locke believe in, in Wilson's account?
(a) The civilizing force of discipline.
(b) The damaging force of society.
(c) The therapeutic force of society.
(d) The nurturing force of the environment.

Short Answer Questions

1. What subject would Wilson like to see more of in undergraduate education?

2. What is the difference between primary and secondary emotions?

3. What problem does Wilson identify in Freud's research on dreams?

4. How does Wilson characterize the current state of knowledge?

5. What does Wilson distinguish between?

(see the answer keys)

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