Maharashtra Board Class 9 English Unit Four Chapter 4.3 Intellectual Rubbish PDF Download

Intellectual Rubbish

Warming Up!

1. How will you react in the following situations?

(a) Your Science teacher tells you plants exposed to the sunlight grow faster than those always in the shade.

(b) Your aunt tells you not to go for a job interview because it is a nomoon day, that very same day.

(c) Your friend argues with you that Mount Everest is not the tallest peak in the world.

(d) A stranger at your door claims to be a magician and promises your mother to turn all her silver jewellery into gold.

2. What do you notice about the following pairs of words?

act naturally, liquid gas, open secret, sound of silence, sweet sorrow, original copy, only choice, growing smaller

Now try to add a contradictory word to the following:

(a) What a mess you have got us into!

(b) It is a imitation of a diamond necklace.

(c) My trip to Matheran was a holiday.

(d) With such heavy make up, she looks ugly.

(e) A crowd gathered to see the magic show.

Note: Contrasting words that go together are examples of the language device called Oxymoron.

Teacher's Note

An oxymoron is when two opposite words come together. For example, "deafening silence" - silence cannot be loud, but this phrase is interesting. In India, we see "organised chaos" in many train stations!

Exam Trick

Remember: Oxymoron = two opposite words together. Think of "old young" or "sweet bitter" - they sound funny but that is the whole point!

Points to Remember

An oxymoron combines two opposite words.
Examples: act naturally, open secret, sweet sorrow.
These phrases create interesting meanings.
They are used in language for effect.
Oxymoron comes from Greek words meaning "sharp" and "dull."

Teacher's Note

Learning to observe and check facts yourself is very important. For example, before believing "bananas make you fat," you should check if this is true by reading reliable sources or asking a doctor.

Exam Trick

Remember: "Observation = truth." Like Aristotle's mistake about women's teeth, we should never just assume something is true. Always check facts yourself!

Points to Remember

Thinking you know when you don't is a big mistake.
Aristotle thought women have fewer teeth than men but never checked.
You should test your beliefs by observing or reading.
Many mistakes happen because people think they already know the answer.
Checking facts saves you from foolish errors.

To avoid the various foolish opinions to which mankind are prone, no superhuman genius is required. A few simple rules will keep you, not from all error, but from silly error.

If the matter is one that can be settled by observation, make the observation yourself. Aristotle could have avoided the mistake of thinking that women have fewer teeth than men, by the simple device of asking Mrs Aristotle to keep her mouth open while he counted. He did not do so because he thought he knew. Thinking that you know when in fact you don't is a fatal mistake, to which we are all prone. I believe myself that hedgehogs eat black beetles, because I have been told that they do; but if I were writing a book on the habits of hedgehogs, I should not commit myself until I had seen one enjoying this unappetizing diet. Aristotle, however, was less cautious....

Many matters, however, are less easily brought to the test of experience. If, like most of mankind, you have passionate convictions on many such matters, there are ways in which you can make yourself aware of your own bias. If an opinion contrary to your own makes you angry, that is a sign that you are subconsciously aware of having no good reason for thinking as you do. If someone maintains that two and two are five, or that Iceland is on the equator, you feel pity rather than anger, unless you know so little of arithmetic or geography that his opinion shakes your own contrary conviction. The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way... so whenever you find yourself getting angry about a difference of opinion, be on your guard; you will probably find, on examination, that your belief is going beyond what the evidence warrants.

A good way of ridding yourself of certain kinds of dogmatism is to become aware of opinions held in social circles different from your own. When I was young, I lived much outside my own country—in France, Germany, Italy and the United States. I found this very profitable in diminishing the intensity of insular prejudice. If you cannot travel, seek out people with whom you disagree, and read a newspaper belonging to a party that is not yours. If the people and the newspaper seem mad, perverse and wicked, remind yourself that you seem so to them. In this opinion both parties may be right, but they cannot both be wrong. This reflection should generate a certain caution.

Teacher's Note

Getting angry about a different opinion shows you do not have good reasons for your own belief. In India, when someone disagrees about a cricket player or a movie, we should not get angry. We should listen and think.

Exam Trick

Remember: "Anger = weakness of belief." If you feel very angry when someone disagrees, it means you are not 100% sure about your own opinion. Stay calm and listen!

Points to Remember

If a different opinion makes you angry, something is wrong with your belief.
True facts do not make us angry when questioned.
Like "two plus two equals four" - we do not get angry when someone says it.
The strongest beliefs do not need anger to defend them.
Anger shows you lack real proof for what you believe.

Teacher's Note

Travelling and meeting different people helps us become less stubborn. When you visit other places or make friends from different cultures, you learn that your way is not the only right way. This is very important learning.

Exam Trick

Remember: "Travel = less dogmatism." Just like meeting your friend from a different religion makes you understand their beliefs better, travelling makes you less stubborn about your own ideas.

Points to Remember

Dogmatism means thinking your opinion is 100% right always.
Meeting people from different backgrounds reduces dogmatism.
Travelling to new places shows you different ways of living.
Reading newspapers from opposing political parties helps too.
Understanding others' views makes you a better thinker.

Becoming aware of foreign customs, however, does not always have a beneficial effect. In the seventeenth century, when the Manchus conquered China, it was the custom among the Chinese for the woman to have small feet, and among the Manchus for the men to wear pigtails. Instead of each dropping their own foolish custom, they each adopted the foolish custom of the other, and the Chinese continued to wear pigtails until they shook off the dominion of the Manchus in the revolution of 1911.

For those who have enough psychological imagination, it is a good plan to imagine an argument with a person having a different bias. This has one advantage, and only one, as compared with actual conversation with opponents; this one advantage is that the method is not subject to the same limitations of time and space. Mahatma Gandhi deplored railways and steamboats and machinery; he would have liked to undo the whole of the industrial revolution. You may never have an oportunity of actually meeting any one who holds this opinion, because in Western countries most people take the advantage of modern technique for granted. But if you want to make sure that you are right in agreeing with the prevailing opinion, you will find it a good plan to test the arguments that occur to you by considering what Gandhi might have said in refutation of them. I have sometimes been led actually to change my mind as a result of this kind of imaginary dialogue, and, short of this, I have frequently found myself growing less dogmatic and cocksure through realising the possible reasonableness of a hypothetical opponent.

Teacher's Note

Imagining what a person with opposite ideas would say helps you become less stubborn. In India, if you imagine what a farmer would say against your city ideas, you understand their life better. This is a powerful thinking tool.

Exam Trick

Remember: "Imagine opposite = think better." Create a fake argument in your head with someone who disagrees with you. This makes your own ideas stronger and less dogmatic!

Points to Remember

Imaginary dialogue means thinking what your opponent might say.
This helps you test if your own belief is really correct.
You do not need to meet the real person to understand them.
This method can change your mind about things.
It makes you less sure and more open to other ideas.

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