Reading Comprehension

PT108 · S1 · P4 · Q26 What is Language

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What it means to “explain” something in science often comes down to the application of mathematics.

Passage Summary

Passage Summary Helper

Topic

The relationship between mathematical language and scientific explanation; how language shapes scientific knowledge.

Framework

Present Debate (with some Highlight Noteworthy)

Main Point

The way science “explains” the world through mathematics depends on ongoing debates about whether language (including math) truly reflects reality or is simply a matter of convention, and though many in science accept useful mathematical statements as true, it's unclear what function these statements really serve if they don't inherently correspond to the world. ( - Paragraph 2. Also see final lines of P4.)

P1: Introducing Math as Scientific Explanation

Some people think that mathematics, like language, is just a tool with internal rules, and when science "explains" something, it’s about finding accurate mathematical descriptions.

P2: The Language vs. Reality Debate

There's a big debate among linguists: does language (and by extension math in science) truly match up with real things, making knowledge solid? Or is it merely a set of conventions, making knowledge uncertain?

26.

Based on the passage, linguists who subscribe to the theory that "the relationship between language and things is purely a matter of agreed-upon conventions" (near the end of the second paragraph) would hold that the statement "The ball is red" is true because

  1. Correct

    speakers of English have accepted

    Why this is right

    This answer is our best match for "agreed upon conventions". English speakers have accepted, they have agreed upon, the conventions of what relationship that sentence describes.

    Skill tested: Application · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.

    80% picked this

  2. speakers of English do not

    Bad Match: inelegant synonyms

    This emphasizes the idea that a sentence is true if its alternative phrasings are less elegant. That's a poor match for, "a sentence is true if it satisfies agreed-upon conventions".

    7% picked this

  3. “The ball is red” corresponds

    Wrong POV

    This sounds like the point of view on the other side of the debate. Side 1: language corresponds in some essential way to objects and behaviors. Side 2 (ours): language is just some agreed-upon conventions.

    6% picked this

  4. “ball” and “red” actually refer

    Bad Match: entity and property

    This emphasizes the idea that a sentence is true if its words refer to an entity and a property. That's a poor match for, "a sentence is true if it satisfies agreed-upon conventions".

    4% picked this

  5. “ball” and “red” are mathematical

    Bad Match: mathematical concepts

    This emphasizes the idea that a sentence is true if its words involve mathematical concepts that accurately describe some part of the world. That's a poor match for, "a sentence is true if it satisfies agreed-upon conventions".

    3% picked this

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