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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 call sociology?
(a) The study of complex societies.
(b) The study of conflict between societies.
(c) The study of simple society.
(d) The study of society.

2. Which ocean is still experiencing increasing yields?
(a) Southern Ocean.
(b) Pacific Ocean.
(c) Atlantic Ocean.
(d) Indian Ocean.

3. What does Edmund Wilson say the arts ultimately create?
(a) Rituals and consistency.
(b) Consilience.
(c) Science.
(d) Religion.

4. What causes economic theories to fail, in Edmund Wilson's estimation?
(a) Reliance on statistical analysis instead of creative synthesis.
(b) Lack of integration with religion.
(c) Aloofness from the social environment.
(d) Lack of integration with psychology.

5. How many disorders are caused by genes?
(a) 120,000.
(b) 1,200.
(c) 120.
(d) 12,000.

Short Answer Questions

1. How do nurturists see the evolution of culture?

2. Where do science and the arts both originate, according to Wilson?

3. What were ethics constructed around, according to Wilson?

4. Why does Edmund Wilson say that human existence in the future will depend on ethics?

5. How much will sea levels theoretically rise if the ice caps melt?

Short Essay Questions

1. What threats to contemporary culture does Wilson describe, and how is consilience useful in answering them?

2. What does Wilson say the liberal arts should address?

3. What are the two branches of anthropology Wilson describes, and what question does he say they both fail to answer?

4. How do the senses function as epi-genetic rules?

5. What does Wilson say is the relationship between human genetics and the development of culture?

6. How do social factors influence genetic distribution?

7. How do patterns in mental development connect genes to culture?

8. What is the purpose of the social sciences, and how does Wilson distinguish the social sciences from the physical social sciences?

9. What is volitional evolution, and what does Wilson say are its effects?

10. What is the difference between nurturists and hereditarians in describing how culture evolves?

(see the answer keys)

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