Those Who Opine Lose Their Impunity When the Circumstances in Which They Pontificate

Reading Passage Question

Those who opine lose their impunity when the circumstances in which they pontificate are such that generate from their expression a positive instigation of some mischievous act. An opinion that corn dealers are starvers of the poor, or that owning private property is robbery, ought to be unmolested when simply circulated through the press, but may justly incur punishment when delivered orally to an excited mob assembled before the house of a corn dealer, or when handed about among the same mob in the form of a placard. Acts, of whatever kind, which without justifiable cause do harm to others, may be, and in the more important cases are absolutely required to be, controlled by the unfavorable sentiments, and, when needful, by the active interference of mankind. The liberty of the individual must be thus far limited; he must not make himself a nuisance to other people. But if he refrains from molesting others in matters that concern them, and merely acts according to his own inclination and judgment in matters which concern himself he should be allowed, without molestation, to carry his opinions into practice at his own cost. As it is useful that while mankind are imperfect there should be different opinions, so it is that there should be different experiments of living, that free scope should be given to varieties of character, short of injury to others, and that the worth of different modes of life should be proved practically, when anyone thinks fit to try them. Where not the person‘s own character but the traditions and customs of other people are the rule of conduct, there is wanting one of the principal ingredients of individual and social progress.

It would be absurd to pretend that people ought to live as if nothing whatever had been known in the world before they came into it; as if experience had as yet done nothing toward showing that one mode of existence, or of conduct, is preferable to another. Nobody denies that people should be so taught and trained in youth as to know and benefit by the ascertained results of human experience. But it is the privilege and proper condition of a human being, arrived at the maturity of his faculties, to use and interpret experience in his own way. It is for him to find out what part of recorded experience is properly applicable to his own circumstances and character. The traditions and customs of other people are, to a certain extent, evidence of what their experience has taught them—presumptive evidence, and as such, have a claim to his deference—but, in the first place, their experience may be too narrow, or they may have not interpreted it rightly. Secondly, their interpretation of experience may be correct, but unsuited to him. Customs are made for customary circumstances and customary characters, and his circumstances or his character may be uncustomary. Thirdly, though the customs be both good as customs and suitable to him, yet to conform to custom merely as custom does not educate him or develop in him any of the qualities which are the distinctive endowments of a human being. He gains no practice either in discerning or desiring what is best.

“Those who opine lose their impunity when the circumstances in which they pontificate" whenever a writer employs techniques”- is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates need a strong knowledge of English GMAT reading comprehension.

This GMAT Reading Comprehension consists of 7 comprehension questions. The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are designed for testing candidates’ abilities in understanding, analyzing, and applying information or concepts. Candidates can actively prepare with the help of GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Solution and Explanation

1. Based on information in the passage, with which of the following statements about opinions would the author most likely NOT disagree?

1. Different opinions exist because people are imperfect.
2. An opinion can be relatively harmless in one context and dangerous in another.
3. Opinions directed specifically against fellow human beings should be punished.
4. All expressions of opinion should really be considered actions.
5. An opinion always has an additional unintended effect

2. The author holds that one should not necessarily defer to the traditions and customs of other people. The author supports his position by arguing that:

1. traditions and customs are usually the result of misinterpreted experiences.
2. customs are based on experiences in the past, which are different from modern experiences.
3. customs can stifle one‘s individual development.

1. II only
2. III only
3. I and III only
4. II and III only
5. None

3. The existence of which of the following phenomena would most strongly challenge the author‘s argument about ―"conforming to custom merely as custom"?

1. A class in morality taught at a parochial high school
2. An important discovery made by a researcher who uses unconventional methods
3. A culture in which it is traditional to let children make their own decisions
4. A custom that involves celebrating a noteworthy historical event
5. a culture in which only the senior most person takes the important decisions

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