GRE Reading Comprehension

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Source: CHP

Paradoxically, with all of our natural, intuitive, commonsense capacity to grasp human relations, the science of human relations has been one of the last to develop. Different explanations of this paradox have been suggested. One is that science would destroy the vain and pleasing illusions people have about themselves; but we might ask why people have always loved to read pessimistic, debunking writings, from Ecclesiastes to Freud. It has also been proposed that just because we know so much about people intuitively, there has been less incentive for studying them scientifically; why should one develop a theory, carry out systematic observations, or make predictions about the obvious?

Question List: 1 2

The author refers to people who are attracted to "pessimistic,debunking writings" in order to support which of the following ideas?

  • A Interesting books about human relations are typically pessimistic.
  • B People tend to ignore scientific explanations of human relations.
  • C People rarely hold pleasing illusions about themselves.
  • D A scientific approach human relations would undermine the pleasing illusions people hold of themselves.
  • E It is doubtful that the science of human relations developed slowly because of a desire to maintain pleasing illusions.

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