Why Wisdom (智慧)Doesn't Work as Well as We Think It Does
We relate wisdom to age. Most of us believe that gaining wisdom is like picking up stones on a path: the longer you're on the path, the more stones you'll collect.
It seems a reasonable inference, then, the older you are, the more wisdom you have. Older people usually make fewer careless mistakes, and they often know the best course of action in a given situation. But I think there's another explanation at play here, which we might consider in the light of what we know about human decision-making.
There are two different ways of decision-making: plans and habits. Here's an example of how these ways differ. If you’re driving somewhere for the first time, you'll need a plan. You will need to know whether to turn left or right, because you don’t already have that information stored away in your head. On the other hand, you don't need a plan when you're going somewhere familiar (熟悉的) because the order of steps that will take you there is stored as a habit. But if you find that the road is blocked by fallen trees, you’ll have to think about another way. Such a plan allows you to more easily deal with new situations, but they require a lot more attention.
The use of plans and habits changes over the course of our lives. A baby can't use habits to make decisions, because any situation she’s in will be a new one. As we build up a store of familiar situations, the more we can depend on habits. The older you are, the more likely your behavior is based on tried- and-true habits rather than fresh planning.
But what does this tell us about wisdom? Well, it suggests that wisdom is interactive, not static: it is a relationship between a person and their surroundings (环境),The reason that wisdom seems to come out so effortlessly from well-seasoned minds is that they have a store of habitual information about how to act in a given situation.
But it also makes a worrying prediction: if older people were put in a new situation, with which they had no familiarity, they wouldn't make better decisions than someone who is young. It is the same with mistakes. Older, seemingly wiser people make fewer mistakes because they're familiar with surroundings they often deal with. If you controlled for the familiarity of the situation, then people in different age groups would probably make the same number of mistakes. Younger people might even make fewer mistakes, because they are better at coming up with fresh plans.
While wisdom gives you expertise within a particular environment, it doesn't mean that you'll be able to generalize that to new experiences. It's not that we necessarily get wiser as we get older, but we put ourselves in fewer situations where we are likely to make mistakes.
1.What do we know about the two ways of decision-making according to the passage?
A.Using plans or habits to make decisions is an ever-changing process.
B.The use of plans and habits requires lots of attention and effort.
C.When going somewhere familiar, we need to work out a plan.
D.Younger people depend more on habits to make decisions,
2.What can we learn from the passage?
A.Younger people have a great advantage in becoming wiser.
B.Older people are better at making careful plans before action.
C.Older people seem wiser because they’ve stored more habitual information.
D.Younger people make more mistakes when they're in unfamiliar surroundings.
3.What does the underlined word “static” probably mean in Paragraph 5?
A.Uncontrolled. B.Unchanged. C.Increasing. D.Surprising.
4.What is the writer's main purpose in writing this passage?
A.To stress the importance of gaining wisdom.
B.To compare the two different ways of decision-making.
C.To call on younger people to learn more from older people.
D.To remind us to view the wisdom of older people reasonably.
科目:初中英语 来源:2020年江苏省常州市九年级下学期新课结束英语试卷 题型:单选题
— Why didn't you answer my call?
— sorry. I _______ an old friend and we _______all the time.
A.have met; are talking B.met; talked C.met; are talking D.met; were talking
查看答案和解析>>
科目:初中英语 来源:2020年河北省毕业生升学文化课考试英语模拟试卷 题型:单选题
If you want to enjoy natural beauty, the small village is really a good________.
A.choice B.chance C.change D.check
查看答案和解析>>
科目:初中英语 来源:2020年四川省成都市金牛区中考二诊英语试卷 题型:单选题
— Some students don’t know how to________ their pressure.
— They can ask teachers, parents and friends for help.
A.deal with B.compare with C.play with
查看答案和解析>>
科目:初中英语 来源:2020年四川省成都市金牛区中考二诊英语试卷 题型:单选题
The popular TV show,The Readers, encourages________ to read more books.
A.our B.we C.us
查看答案和解析>>
科目:初中英语 来源:2020年北京西城区中考一模英语试卷 题型:单选题
— Your jacket looks so cool! Can you tell me ________?
— Sure. I will send you the shop's address later.
A.where will you buy it B.where you will buy it
C.where did you buy it D.where you bought it
查看答案和解析>>
科目:初中英语 来源:2020年北京西城区中考一模英语试卷 题型:单选题
She never stops trying, ________ she is making great progress.
A.or B.but C.and D.if
查看答案和解析>>
科目:初中英语 来源:湖南省长沙市教育集团2019-2020学年九年级上学期期末联考英语试卷 题型:单选题
—What made her so _____?
—She was made _____ in New York for a year as an exchange student.
A.excitedly, to study B.excited, to study C.excite, study
查看答案和解析>>
科目:初中英语 来源:黑龙江省齐齐哈尔市甘南县2019-2020学年七年级下学期期中英语试卷 题型:单选题
You'd better________ too much time playing computer games.
A.don't spend B.not to spend C.not spend
查看答案和解析>>
湖北省互联网违法和不良信息举报平台 | 网上有害信息举报专区 | 电信诈骗举报专区 | 涉历史虚无主义有害信息举报专区 | 涉企侵权举报专区
违法和不良信息举报电话:027-86699610 举报邮箱:58377363@163.com