- Her frenetic intellectual energy lent itself to (a)n that, while
usually frowned upon in a discipline so focused on hyper-specialization,
gave her the opportunity to come up with novel syntheses that challenged
prevailing views in the field.
A divergenceB acuityC miserlinessD eclecticismE virtuosityQuestions 7 to 10 refer to the passage below. For each question, select one answer
choice, unless the instructions state otherwise.Long the orthodox position in all sciences of the mind, materialism
is revealing itself to be a porous, internally-inconsistent philosophical
position, one that cannot withstand the implications of cutting edge
of physics. At the heart of materialism is the belief that all phenomena
can ultimately be explained in physical terms. The intuitive appeal
of such a position has contributed to its vaunted status among the
sciences, and rightfully so, given how much progress has been
made in various scientific disciplines. But what are we to make of
consciousness? The last frontier in neuroscience, the question of
how our physical brain can give rise to subjective experience, has
been deferred indefinitely; leaving one to wonder not when but if
the question can be resolved. Quantum physics has an answer: the
question is senseless. Quantum physics shows us that the fundamentals
of matter are only probability, wave-like functions. Subatomic
particles, the very constituents of everything that scientists investigate,
do not behave like matter at all, and so the metaphysical foundation of
so much scientific inquiry is found to be irreparably, tragically cracked.
If we continue operating under the assumption that consciousness
can be reduced to physical terms, we’ll find ourselves in a dead-end.
To understand this most mysterious, most human of phenomena, we
need to reorient our metaphysics, taking the elusive, slippery nature of
matter as a starting point, not as an inconvenience.510152032 PART 1 ■ GETTING STARTED01-GRE-Test-2018_001-106.indd 32 12/05/17 11:38 am