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For years, the idea that blind people can hear better than sighted people was considered something of an old canard. However, functional brain imaging now has allowed us to look inside the brains of blind people who possess what can only be termed cerebral superpowers—the ability to understand speech at up to \(25\) syllables per second, a speed that sounds like “noise” to sighted people (a typical sighted person understands closer to \(10\) syllables per second). As it turns out, a brain region called V1, situated at the back of the skull and which normally only responds to light has actually been rewired in the brains of blind people—and now processes auditory information. This is truly a stunning example of the brain’s plasticity, a topic of cardinal importance in designing educational experiences and materials to best engage the brains of students.
Of course, in discussing the brain’s amazing plasticity, modern thinkers take for granted something that would have been shocking to thinkers from Aristotle (who posited a holistic, non-corporeal mind in De Anima in the 4th century, BC) through Descartes (who argued, in the 17th century, for mind-body dualism)—the idea that the mind is physically located in the brain and that our intellect, personality, and selfhood are attributable to physical processes in the brain and can be altered by brain injuries.
1. According to the passage, the belief that blind people can hear better than sighted people
A. is untrue
B. was not a matter of contention, but was then shown to be true
C. was, for years, thought to be true, but is now up for debate
D. is put forth by the scientific community, but this evidence is contested by many
E. was, for years, commonly known but thought by many to be false, and then was shown to be true
The OA is E
2. According to the passage, Aristotle would NOT have thought that
I. the mind is separate from the body
II. the mind exists in parts or modules, rather than as one entity
III. blind people can hear better than sighted people
A. I Only
B. II Only
C. III Only
D. I and II Only
E. II and III Only
The OA is B
Of course, in discussing the brain’s amazing plasticity, modern thinkers take for granted something that would have been shocking to thinkers from Aristotle (who posited a holistic, non-corporeal mind in De Anima in the 4th century, BC) through Descartes (who argued, in the 17th century, for mind-body dualism)—the idea that the mind is physically located in the brain and that our intellect, personality, and selfhood are attributable to physical processes in the brain and can be altered by brain injuries.
1. According to the passage, the belief that blind people can hear better than sighted people
A. is untrue
B. was not a matter of contention, but was then shown to be true
C. was, for years, thought to be true, but is now up for debate
D. is put forth by the scientific community, but this evidence is contested by many
E. was, for years, commonly known but thought by many to be false, and then was shown to be true
The OA is E
2. According to the passage, Aristotle would NOT have thought that
I. the mind is separate from the body
II. the mind exists in parts or modules, rather than as one entity
III. blind people can hear better than sighted people
A. I Only
B. II Only
C. III Only
D. I and II Only
E. II and III Only
The OA is B
