Academic Reading Exam #1
In YOUR OWN WORDS, please explain the meaning of the following excerpt: "The strictly reductionist approach to human behavior so characteristic of sociobiology also runs into trouble on more narrowly biological grounds. For it includes an assumption of continuity in evolution from early mammals to man, which implies that the mind, or consciousness, was not a radical departure. Such an assumption is hardly justified when one considers the dramatic instances of discontinuity in evolution. The origin of the universe itself, the "big bang," is a cosmic example of discontinuity. The beginning of life, while less cataclysmic, is certainly another example." What is Morowitz trying to say in his article, Rediscovering the Mind?
Please read the following interview with Steven Pinker, a well-known MIT linguist. What are his views concerning the origins of language? Where would you place him with respect to the current debate in science between the strictly hard-core materialism that characterizes contemporary biologists and the perspective of physicists, who faced with compelling experimental evidence, have been moving away from strictly mechanical models of the universe to a view that sees the mind as playing an integral role in all physical events.
3. What did you learn from watching Fractals: the colors of infinity? What did Benoit B. Mandelbrot discover when he investigated these extraordinary geometric figures? Refer to the following URL: Julia Sets and Mandelbrot