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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Wilson say matters in science?
(a) Publications.
(b) Paradigm shifts.
(c) Final results.
(d) Hypothesis.

2. How many cells comprise the brain?
(a) 1 trillion.
(b) 100 billion.
(c) No one knows.
(d) 100 million.

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

4. 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 separate humanities from natural science.
(c) To divorce the natural science from social sciences.
(d) To integrate natural science with social sciences and humanities.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Wilson explain the ideal scientist's work ethic?

2. What accomplishment does Wilson say Einstein strove for in his work?

3. How does Wilson characterize the relationship between consilience and the material world?

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

5. What decision was effectively made in human evolution as the brain found its present size?

Short Essay Questions

1. How would you describe Rousseau's influence on Wilson's idea of consilience?

2. Why does Wilson cite Einstein as an example of someone who practiced consilience?

3. What does consilience provide as an educational policy?

4. How would you describe Wilson's relationship with religion?

5. How did Wilson arrive at his theory of consilience?

6. What is the relationship between complexity theory and consilience?

7. How does Wilson offer dreams as an example of the need for consilience?

8. What does E.O. Wilson mean by the Ionian Enchantment?

9. How does Wilson offer ants as a metaphor for consilience?

10. How has postmodernism affected Wilson's consilience?

(see the answer keys)

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