Essayist: Wisdom and intelligence are desirable qualities. However, being intelligent does not imply that one is ...

shunhe on September 14, 2020

Hi @ankita96,

Thanks for the question! So let’s take a look at the stimulus first. We’re told that wisdom and intelligence are desirable qualities. But intelligence doesn’t imply wisdom, and wisdom doesn’t imply intelligence. And in the essayist's experience, people are one or the other but not both.

Now we’re asked for something that is not something that could be true; in other words, something that must be false based on what the essayist is saying. Let’s walk through the answer choices.

(A): is it possible that most people are neither intelligent or wise? Yes, the essayist doesn’t say anything that rules this out. Even if everyone the essayist knows is one or the other but not both, the essayist probably doesn’t know most people in existence, so (A) is definitely possible.

(B): is it possible for most people to be both intelligent and wise? Why yes, it is. The essayist hasn’t met any of them. But again, the essayist doesn’t know most people in the world, just a small proportion. So maybe the people the essayist doesn’t know are both.

(C): is it possible for no one to be both wise and intelligent? Sure, that’s completely possible. The essay doesn’t know anyone that’s both, and maybe no one else is both. Nothing in the argument suggests that there are other people that are both.

(D): is it possible for no one to be either worse or intelligent? Well, the essayist told us that he knows people who have one or the other of those qualities. So we know that people exist who are at least one of them. So this is impossible, and therefore the correct answer.

(E): is it possible for many people to be intelligent and lack wisdom? Yes, the essayist basically says this.

Hope this helps! Feel free to ask any other questions that you might have.

ankita96 on September 20, 2020

Hi,
Thank You so much!! That was really helpful!