The passage most strongly suggests that Emeagwali holds which one of the following views?

claire_crites on January 16, 2019

I also went the C on this one. Could someone explain why C is wrong?

Ravi on February 16, 2019

@Ro13 and @claire_crites,

Great questions. Let's take a look.

The question asks, "The passage most strongly suggests that Emeagwali
holds which one of the following views?"

We're looking for an answer choice that is something that Emeagwali
likely believes.

You both asked about (C).

(C) says, "Most computer designs will in the future be inspired by
natural systems."

@Ro13, you asked if (C) is wrong because it talks about computer
designs, whereas the passage discusses computer scientists. This is
not why (C) is wrong. (C) is wrong because the passage says in lines
55 through 58 that "Emeagwali believes that computer scientists in the
future will increasingly look to nature for elegant solutions to
complex technical problems." The problem is that "increasingly"
doesn't necessarily mean "most," which is what (C) says. While
Emeagwali believes the computer scientists will look more and more to
natural systems for inspiration, this does not mean that most computer
designs will in the future be inspired by natural systems. It could
still be a minority of computer designs. This is why (C) is incorrect.

(A) says, "some natural systems have arrived at efficient solutions to
problems that are analogous in significant ways to technical problems
faced by computer scientists."

The key portion of the text to look at is the second half of the
second paragraph. In this portion of the passage, Emeagwali's
exploration of the branching patterns of trees is discussed, and it's
mentioned that trees evolved this way to maximize their use of taking
up resources. Emeagwali's solution to model oil field flow was
inspired by his examination of the trees' branching patterns, which
were a natural system that solved a problem. Emeagwali then used this
as a basis for a model to solve his parallel oil field modeling
problem, so (A) is correct because based on the passage, it's
something we have strong support that Emeagwali would agree with.

Does this make sense? Let us know if you have any more questions!