Question:medium

Read the following passage and answer the question that follows.
How do we choose one discovery over any other? The physician Lewis Thomas made a choice. He bluntly asserts: “The greatest of all the accomplishments of 20th-century science has been the discovery of human ignorance.” 
The science writer Timothy Ferris agrees: “Our ignorance, of course, has always been with us, and always will be. What is new is our awareness of it, our awakening to its fathomless dimensions, and it is this, more than anything else, that marks the coming of age of our species.” It is an odd, unsettling thought that the culmination of our greatest century of discovery should be the confirmation of our ignorance. How did such a thing come about? 
Which of the following statements can be BEST concluded from the above passage?

Updated On: Jan 13, 2026
  • Humans know more when they know they know very little.
  • Humans became scientists when they realized that they were ignorant.
  • Humans progressed because they knew that they knew very little.
  • The realization that humans are ignorant led them to invent new things.
  • That they do not know enough make humans seek to know more.
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The Correct Option is

Solution and Explanation

Stage 1: Grasp the passage's core concept.
The text asserts that the acknowledgment of human fallibility represents the paramount scientific breakthrough of the 20th century. This realization is depicted as a fundamental characteristic of humanity’s advancement and inquisitiveness.
Stage 2: Assess the choices.
- Choice 1: Erroneous. The assertion is philosophical but does not directly correspond to the passage's conclusion.
- Choice 2: Erroneous. Although it suggests a link between unawareness and scientific investigation, it simplifies this connection unduly. 
- Choice 3: Erroneous. This is partially accurate but does not encompass the wider consequence of consciousness stimulating inquiry and development. 
- Choice 4: Erroneous. The passage does not center on creation as an immediate result of lack of knowledge. 
- Choice 5: Accurate. The passage concludes that recognizing ignorance propels humans to pursue enhanced understanding, signifying their progression.
Concluding Selection: (5)

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The upper hinge of a dataset is the median of all the values to the right of the median of the dataset in an ascending arrangement, while the lower hinge of the dataset is the median of all the values to the left of the median of the dataset in the same arrangement.
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