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MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.
The following pictograph shows the number of bicyclists who participated in the Labor Day weekend bicycle race for the
years 2003-2009. Use the graph to answer the question.
2) What was the greatest number of cyclists to participate in any one year?
A) 50 cyclists B) 100 cyclists C) 20 cyclists D) 120 cyclists
Answer: D
4) Approximate the total number of cyclists who participated in 2005 and 2006.
A) 160 cyclists B) 140 cyclists C) 130 cyclists D) 150 cyclists
Answer: D
6) In what years was there a decline in the number of cyclists who participated in the race?
A) 2004, 2006 B) 2005, 2008, 2009
C) 2004, 2006, 2007 D) 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008
Answer: C
7) In what years was there an increase in the number of cyclists who participated in the race?
A) 2004, 2005, 2009 B) 2005, 2008, 2009 C) 2003, 2005, 2009 D) 2004, 2006, 2007
Answer: B
1
8) What was the increase in the number of participants from 2004 to 2005?
A) 40 cyclists B) 45 cyclists C) 35 cyclists D) 30 cyclists
Answer: C
The bar graph shows the number of tickets sold each week by the garden club for their annual flower show.
10) During which week was the fewest number of tickets sold?
A) week 6 B) week 2 C) week 4 D) week 5
Answer: B
13) How many more tickets were sold during week 6 than week 2?
A) 8 tickets B) 30 tickets C) 18 tickets D) 13 tickets
Answer: A
2
The bar graph shows the expenditures of one city government in a recent year.
15) Name the agency with the smallest spending and estimate this value.
A) Human Resources; $24.2 million B) Health; $5.4 million
C) Environment; $3.2 million D) All Other Agencies; $8.2 million
Answer: C
16) Name the agency whose spending is between $3 million and $4 million and estimate its value.
A) Environment; $3.2 million B) Fire; $3.2 million
C) Environment; $4.3 million D) Fire; $4.3 million
Answer: A
3
SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers the question.
Use the information given to draw a vertical bar graph. Clearly label the bars on the graph shown below.
18) Entree Choices of Customers During One Week
Answer:
Entree Choices of Customers During One Week
40
30
20
10
4
19) Visitors of Jazz Festival
Answer:
Visitors of Jazz Festival
25
20
15
10
5
MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.
The histogram shows the scores of each participant in a game from a total of 100 participants.
5
22) How many more participants scored 80-99 than 20-39?
A) 32 participants B) 4 participants C) 13 participants D) 16 participants
Answer: B
23) What is the ratio of participants who score 20-39 to the total number of participants?
1 19 3 25
A) B) C) D)
4 50 25 3
Answer: C
SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers the question.
The list shows the scores for a basketball team. Use the list to complete the frequency distribution table and construct a
histogram.
24) 40 31 35 28 19
17 26 33 31 30
28 29 29 26 27
Answer:
6
Twenty teenagers were asked to give their current savings account balances. Use the balances shown in the list to
complete the frequency distribution table and construct a histogram.
25) 499 1400 678 3123 3009
2299 692 2890 2159 1004
1234 900 2148 2377 2780
2550 1850 1049 1750 2289
7
Answer:
8
MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.
The line graph shows the recorded hourly temperatures in degrees Fahrenheit at an airport.
29) During which hour did the temperature increase the most?
A) 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. B) 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. C) 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. D) 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Answer: D
31) During which two hour period did the temperature increase the most?
A) 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. B) 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. C) 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. D) 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Answer: C
9
SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers the question.
The double-line graph shows temperature highs and lows for a week.
33) On what day of the week was the difference between the high temperature and the low temperature the least?
What was this difference in temperature?
Answer: Friday; 3°F
MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.
The circle graph shows the results of the student council presidential election. The complete circular area represents 100%
of the votes.
34)
Student Council President
Matt
22%
Ann
36% Jim
18%
Ben
24%
The circle graph shows what percent of the vote each person received.
10
35)
Student Council President
Ted
22%
Ben
32% Gina
19%
Matt
27%
36)
Student Council President
Matt
20%
Ted
34% Ann
14%
Ming
32%
The circle graph shows what percent of the vote each person received.
11
37)
Student Council President
Gina
25%
Ming
29% Ann
20%
Ted
26%
The circle graph shows what percent of the vote each person received.
38)
Student Council President
Matt
20%
Ming
34% Lili
14%
Ben
32%
The circle graph shows what percent of the vote each person received.
12
39)
Student Council President
Ming
22%
Ted
32% Ben
19%
Gina
27%
The circle graph shows what percent of the vote each person received.
40)
Student Council President
Ben
22%
Ming
35% Matt
17%
Gina
26%
The circle graph shows what percent of the vote each person received.
What percent of the votes did Matt and Ben receive together?
A) 17% B) 61% C) 39% D) 22%
Answer: C
13
41)
Student Council President
Ben
25%
Claire
32% John
15%
Jason
28%
The circle graph shows what percent of the vote each person received.
42)
Student Council President
Ming
25%
Jim
32% Ben
15%
Lili
28%
The circle graph shows what percent of the vote each person received.
14
43)
Student Council President
Matt
25%
Ted
29% Jim
20%
Ben
26%
The circle graph shows what percent of the vote each person received.
The circle graph summarizes the results of a survey of the favorite movie category chosen by a group of adults.
SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers the question.
Fill in the table. Round to the nearest degree. Then draw a circle graph to represent the information given in the table.
15
46)
Shares of Stock Owned by an Investor
Type of Stock Percent of Shares Degrees in sector
Company A 40%
Company B 24%
Company C 36%
Answer:
Shares of Stock Owned by an Investor
Type of Stock Percent of Shares Degrees in sector
Company A 40% 144∘
Company B 24% 86∘
Company C 36% 130∘
47)
Favorite Sports Among a Group of Students
Sports Percent Degrees in Sector
Baseball 15%
Football 10%
Basketball 57%
Soccer 12%
Others 6%
16
Answer:
Favorite Sports Among a Group of Students
Sports Percent Degrees in Sector
Baseball 15% 54°
Football 10% 36°
Basketball 57% 205°
Soccer 12% 43°
Others 6% 22°
MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.
17
51) 18, 14, 8, 14, 8, 4, 4
A) 11.7 B) 11.5 C) 9.5 D) 10
Answer: D
62) 1.5, 0.5, 0.7, 1.5, 0.3, 1.7, 0.3, 1.8, 2.2
A) 1.1 B) 1.2 C) 1.5 D) 0.8
Answer: C
18
Find the mode or modes (if any).
63) 5, 9, 18, 3, 2, 8, 96, 1, 4, 16
A) 15.6 B) 8 C) 9 D) no mode
Answer: D
68) 1.5, 0.5, 0.7, 1.5, 0.3, 1.7, 0.3, 1.8, 2.2
A) 1.5 B) 0.3 C) 1.2 D) 0.3 and 1.5
Answer: D
70) The following test scores were recorded for a student: 100, 95, 93, 89, 95, 81, 91. Find the mean, median, and
mode.
A) mean: 92 median: 93 mode: 95 B) mean: 93 median: 92 mode: 100
C) mean: 93 median: 89 mode: 95 D) mean: 92 median: 89 mode: 100
Answer: A
71) The following test scores were recorded for a student: 80, 72, 68, 68, 80, 82. Find the mean, median, and mode.
A) mean: 76 median: 76 mode: 68 B) mean: 75 median: 68 mode: 82
C) mean: 75 median: 76 mode: 68 and 80 D) mean: 76 median: 75 mode: 80
Answer: C
19
72) The following test scores were recorded for a student: 71, 68, 66, 65, 74, 70. Find the mean, median, and mode.
A) mean: 69 median: 65 mode: 74 B) mean: 68 median: none mode: none
C) mean: 70 median: none mode: 74 D) mean: 69 median: 69 mode: none
Answer: D
73) The following test scores were recorded for a student: 98, 55, 96, 55, 81. Find the mean, median, and mode.
A) mean: 77 median: 81 mode: 98 B) mean: 77 median: 81 mode: 55
C) mean: 96.3 median: 88.5 mode: 55 D) mean: 82.5 median: 96 mode: 98
Answer: B
81) If a single die is tossed once, find the probability of the following event.
A7
7
A) 7 B) C) 1 D) 0
6
Answer: D
20
82) If a single die is tossed once, find the probability of the following event.
A 6 or a 1
1 1 1
A) B) C) 7 D)
3 6 2
Answer: A
83) If a single die is tossed once, find the probability of the following event.
A 1 or a 4 or a 3
1 1 1
A) B) C) 8 D)
6 2 3
Answer: B
84) If a single die is tossed once, find the probability of the following event.
An even number.
1 1 1
A) B) C) D) 3
3 6 2
Answer: C
85) If a single die is rolled, find the probability of the following event.
A number less than 2?
1 1 5 1
A) B) C) D)
3 6 6 9
Answer: B
86) Two dice are tossed. What is the probability the sum of the two numbers on the die will be 4?
2 11 1
A) B) C) 3 D)
3 12 12
Answer: D
87) Two dice are rolled. What is the probability that the sum of the two numbers on the dice will be greater than 9?
1 1 1
A) B) C) D) 6
4 6 12
Answer: B
Find the probability of the event if a single choice is made from a bag.
88) A bag contains 6 red marbles, 6 blue marbles, 6 yellow marbles, and 7 green marbles. What is the probability of
choosing a red marble when one marble is drawn?
6 6 1 1
A) B) C) D)
25 19 25 4
Answer: A
89) A bag contains 8 red marbles, 4 blue marbles, and 9 green marbles. What is the probability of choosing a blue
marble when one marble is drawn?
8 1 3 4
A) B) C) D)
21 3 7 21
Answer: D
21
90) A bag contains 8 red marbles, 3 blue marbles, and 1 green marble. What is the probability of choosing a marble
that is not blue when one marble is drawn from the bag?
3 4 1
A) B) 9 C) D)
4 3 4
Answer: A
91) A bag contains 4 red marbles, 8 blue marbles, 7 yellow marbles, and 6 green marbles. What is the probability of
choosing a yellow or green marble when one marble is drawn?
1 6 13 7
A) B) C) D)
2 25 25 25
Answer: C
92) A bag contains 13 balls numbered 1 through 13. What is the probability of selecting a ball that has an even
number when one ball is drawn from the bag?
2 13 6
A) B) 6 C) D)
13 6 13
Answer: D
93) A bag contains 27 balls numbered 1 through 27. What is the probability of choosing a ball numbered 28?
1
A) 1 B) 27 C) 0 D)
27
Answer: C
Solve.
94) A new drug is being tested that is supposed to lower cholesterol. This drug was given to 300 people and the
results are below.
If a person is testing this drug, what is the probability that their cholesterol will be higher?
2 31 77 13
A) B) C) D)
15 50 150 15
Answer: A
A deck of cards contains 52 cards. These cards consist of four suits (hearts, spades, clubs, and diamonds) of each of the
following: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, jack, queen, king, and ace. If a card is chosen from a deck of cards, find the probability of
each event.
95) Selecting an ace
4 12 1 1
A) B) C) D)
13 13 52 13
Answer: D
22
Fill in the blank with one of the words or phrases listed below.
sum of items
98) The of a set of number items is .
number of items
A) mean B) probability C) median D) mode
Answer: A
100) A(n) is a graph in which pictures or symbols are used to visually present data.
A) class interval B) pictograph C) tree diagram D) histogram
Answer: B
101) The of a set of numbers is the number that occurs the most often.
A) probability B) mode C) mean D) median
Answer: B
102) A(n) graph displays information with a line that connects data points.
A) line B) probability C) bar D) circle
Answer: A
105) A(n) is an activity being considered, such as tossing a coin or rolling a die.
A) tree diagram B) pictogram C) mode D) experiment
Answer: D
106) In a(n) graph, each section (shaped like a piece of pie) shows a category and the relative size of the
category.
A) circle B) bar C) probability D) line
Answer: A
23
number of ways that event can occur
107) The of an event is .
number of possible outcomes
A) mean B) mode C) median D) probability
Answer: D
108) A(n) is a special bar graph in which the width of each bar represents a(n) and the
height of each bar represents the .
A) pictogram, class frequency, class interval B) pictogram, class interval, class frequency
C) histogram, class interval, class frequency D) histogram, class frequency, class interval
Answer: C
The pictograph shows the number of bicycles sold at Mountain Biking Mania for a 7-week period.
110) During which week was the least number of bicycles sold? How many bicycles were sold that week?
A) week 7; 120 bicycles B) week 5; 20 bicycles
C) week 3; 100 bicycles D) week 4; 50 bicycles
Answer: B
111) What was the total number of bicycles sold in this 7-week period?
A) 535 bicycles B) 530 bicycles C) 545 bicycles D) 520 bicycles
Answer: B
24
The bar graph shows the number of students who flunk Dr. Jones' class each year.
112) During which year(s) did Dr. Jones' have more than 8 students flunk his class?
A) 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000 B) 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002
C) 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002 D) 1996, 1998, 1999
Answer: B
113) During which year did Dr. Jones' have the fewest number of students flunk his class? How many students
flunked during that year?
A) 2005, 3 students B) 1997, 2 students C) 2005, 2 students D) 1999, 16 students
Answer: B
114) During which year(s) did exactly 4 students flunk Dr. Jones' class?
A) 1993, 2003 B) 2003 C) 1993 D) 1993, 2001
Answer: A
25
SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers the question.
Use the information given to draw a vertical bar graph. Clearly label the bars on the graph shown below.
115) Visitors of Jazz Festival
Answer:
Visitors of Jazz Festival
25
20
15
10
5
26
MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.
The line graph shows the recorded hourly temperatures in degrees Fahrenheit at an airport.
117) During which hours shown was the temperature greater than 76°F?
A) 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. B) 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. C) 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. D) 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Answer: D
27
The following circle graph displays Chris and Mary Smith's monthly $2900 family budget. Use the circle graph to answer
the question.
119) What is the ratio of money spent on miscellaneous to the total amount of the monthly budget?
29 2 29 3
A) B) C) D)
2 29 3 29
Answer: D
120) What is the ratio of money spent on food to money spent on utilities?
5 8 8 11
A) B) C) D)
8 5 11 8
Answer: B
28
The circle graph shows the results of the student council presidential election. The complete circular area represents
100% of the votes.
121)
Student Council President
Ben
20%
Ted
34% Ming
14%
Gina
32%
The circle graph shows what percent of the vote each person received.
If 600 total votes were cast, how many votes did Ted get?
A) 192 B) 204 C) 84 D) 120
Answer: B
The circle graph summarizes the results of a survey of the favorite movie category chosen by a group of adults.
29
A new car dealership has taken an inventory of the vehicles it has in stock. Below is a histogram indicating the number
of vehicles in stock in certain price ranges. Use the histogram to answer the question.
123) How many vehicles in stock are priced between $14,000 and $20,999?
A) 5 vehicles B) 15 vehicles C) 3 vehicles D) 10 vehicles
Answer: B
30
SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers the question.
Twenty teenagers were asked to give their current savings account balances. Use the balances shown in the list to
complete the frequency distribution table.
125) 345 1382 591 3265 3123
2399 678 2999 2299 1400
1004 692 2159 2148 2890
2780 1999 1234 1850 2377
Answer:
Twenty teenagers were asked to give their current savings account balances. Use the balances shown in the list to
complete the frequency distribution table and construct a histogram.
126) 150 1080 960 3022 3499
2001 880 2650 2118 1250
1499 560 2499 2399 2500
2789 1620 1382 1810 2299
31
Answer:
MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.
Find the mean, median, and mode of the list of numbers. If necessary, round to the nearest tenth.
127) 100, 67, 84, 67, 81
A) mean: 99.8 median: 82.5 mode: 67 B) mean: 83 median: 84 mode: 100
C) mean: 79.8 median: 81 mode: 67 D) mean: 79.8 median: 81 mode: 100
Answer: C
32
128) 90, 82, 78, 78, 90, 92
A) mean: 86 median: 86 mode: 78 B) mean: 85 median: 78 mode: 92
C) mean: 85 median: 86 mode: 78 and 90 D) mean: 86 median: 85 mode: 90
Answer: C
Find the grade point average. If necessary, round to the nearest hundredth.
129)
Grade Credit Hours
A 2
C 1
D 1
F 2
C 2
A) 8 B) 1.88 C) 1.8 D) 1.6
Answer: B
Draw a tree diagram for the experiment to find the number of outcomes.
130) Spinning the spinner twice
Suppose that the numbers 1 through 10 are each written on a scrap of paper and placed in a bag. You then select one
number from the bag.
132) What is the probability of choosing a 9 from the bag?
1 9 1
A) B) 1 C) D)
10 10 9
Answer: A
33
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world of consciousness, and we are not necessarily opposed to
attempts to reach the physical world from that end. From the point of
view of philosophy it is desirable that this entrance should be
explored, and it is conceivable that it may be fruitful scientifically. If I
have rightly understood Dr. Whitehead’s philosophy, that is the
course which he takes. It involves a certain amount of working
backwards (as we should ordinarily describe it); but his method of
“extensive abstraction” is intended to overcome some of the
difficulties of such a procedure. I am not qualified to form a critical
judgment of this work, but in principle it appears highly interesting.
Although this book may in most respects seem diametrically
opposed to Dr. Whitehead’s widely read philosophy of Nature, I think
it would be truer to regard him as an ally who from the opposite side
of the mountain is tunnelling to meet his less philosophically minded
colleagues. The important thing is not to confuse the two entrances.
Fig. 8
It looks upon Mr. X—and more particularly the part of Mr. X that
knows—as a rather troublesome tenant who at a late stage of the
world’s history has come to inhabit a structure which inorganic
Nature has by slow evolutionary progress contrived to build. And so
it turns aside from the avenue leading to Mr. X—and beyond—and
closes up its cycle leaving him out in the cold.
From its own point of view physics is entirely justified. That matter
in some indirect way comes within the purview of Mr. X’s mind is not
a fact of any utility for a theoretical scheme of physics. We cannot
embody it in a differential equation. It is ignored; and the physical
properties of matter and other entities are expressed by their
linkages in the cycle. And you can see how by the ingenious device
of the cycle physics secures for itself a self-contained domain for
study with no loose ends projecting into the unknown. All other
physical definitions have the same kind of interlocking. Electric force
is defined as something which causes motion of an electric charge;
an electric charge is something which exerts electric force. So that
an electric charge is something that exerts something that produces
motion of something that exerts something that produces ... ad
infinitum.
But I am not now writing of pure physics, and from a broader
standpoint I do not see how we can leave out Mr. X. The fact that
matter is “knowable to Mr. X” must be set down as one of the
fundamental attributes of matter. I do not say that it is very
distinctive, since other entities of physics are also knowable to him;
but the potentiality of the whole physical world for awaking
impressions in consciousness is an attribute not to be ignored when
we compare the actual world with worlds which, we fancy, might
have been created. There seems to be a prevalent disposition to
minimise the importance of this. The attitude is that “knowableness
to Mr. X” is a negligible attribute, because Mr. X is so clever that he
could know pretty much anything that there was to know. I have
already urged the contrary view—that there is a definitely selective
action of the mind; and since physics treats of what is knowable to
mind[43] its subject-matter has undergone, and indeed retains
evidences of, this process of selection.
“What is Mr. X?” In the light of these considerations let us now see
what we can make of the question, What is Mr. X? I must undertake
the inquiry single-handed; I cannot avail myself of your collaboration
without first answering or assuming an answer to the equally difficult
question, What are you? Accordingly the whole inquiry must take
place in the domain of my own consciousness. I find there certain
data purporting to relate to this unknown X; and I can (by using
powers which respond to my volition) extend the data, i.e. I can
perform experiments on X. For example I can make a chemical
analysis. The immediate result of these experiments is the
occurrence of certain visual or olfactory sensations in my
consciousness. Clearly it is a long stride from these sensations to
any rational inference about Mr. X. For example, I learn that Mr. X
has carbon in his brain, but the immediate knowledge was of
something (not carbon) in my own mind. The reason why I, on
becoming aware of something in my mind, can proceed to assert
knowledge of something elsewhere, is because there is a systematic
scheme of inference which can be traced from the one item of
knowledge to the other. Leaving aside instinctive or commonsense
inference—the crude precursor of scientific inference—the inference
follows a linkage, which can only be described symbolically,
extending from the point in the symbolic world where I locate myself
to the point where I locate Mr. X.
One feature of this inference is that I never discover what carbon
really is. It remains a symbol. There is carbon in my own brain-mind;
but the self-knowledge of my mind does not reveal this to me. I can
only know that the symbol for carbon must be placed there by
following a route of inference through the external world similar to
that used in discovering it in Mr. X; and however closely associated
this carbon may be with my thinking powers, it is as a symbol
divorced from any thinking capacity that I learn of its existence.
Carbon is a symbol definable only in terms of the other symbols
belonging to the cyclic scheme of physics. What I have discovered is
that, in order that the symbols describing the physical world may
conform to the mathematical formulae which they are designed to
obey, it is necessary to place the symbol for carbon (amongst others)
in the locality of Mr. X. By similar means I can make an exhaustive
physical examination of Mr. X and discover the whole array of
symbols to be assigned to his locality.
Will this array of symbols give me the whole of Mr. X? There is
not the least reason to think so. The voice that comes to us over the
telephone wire is not the whole of what is at the end of the wire. The
scientific linkage is like the telephone wire; it can transmit just what it
is constructed to transmit and no more.
It will be seen that the line of communication has two aspects. It
is a chain of inference stretching from the symbols immediately
associated with the sensations in my mind to the symbols descriptive
of Mr. X; and it is a chain of stimuli in the external world starting from
Mr. X and reaching my brain. Ideally the steps of the inference
exactly reverse the steps of the physical transmission which brought
the information. (Naturally we make many short cuts in inference by
applying accumulated experience and knowledge.) Commonly we
think of it only in its second aspect as a physical transmission; but
because it is also a line of inference it is subject to limitations which
we should not necessarily expect a physical transmission to conform
to.
The system of inference employed in physical investigation
reduces to mathematical equations governing the symbols, and so
long as we adhere to this procedure we are limited to symbols of
arithmetical character appropriate to such mathematical equations.
[44] Thus there is no opportunity for acquiring by any physical
investigation a knowledge of Mr. X other than that which can be
expressed in numerical form so as to be passed through a
succession of mathematical equations.
Mathematics is the model of exact inference; and in physics we
have endeavoured to replace all cruder inference by this rigorous
type. Where we cannot complete the mathematical chain we confess
that we are wandering in the dark and are unable to assert real
knowledge. Small wonder then that physical science should have
evolved a conception of the world consisting of entities rigorously
bound to one another by mathematical equations forming a
deterministic scheme. This knowledge has all been inferred and it
was bound therefore to conform to the system of inference that was
used. The determinism of the physical laws simply reflects the
determinism of the method of inference. This soulless nature of the
scientific world need not worry those who are persuaded that the
main significances of our environment are of a more spiritual
character. Anyone who studied the method of inference employed by
the physicist could predict the general characteristics of the world
that he must necessarily find. What he could not have predicted is
the great success of the method—the submission of so large a
proportion of natural phenomena to be brought into the prejudged
scheme. But making all allowance for future progress in developing
the scheme, it seems to be flying in the face of obvious facts to
pretend that it is all comprehensive. Mr. X is one of the recalcitrants.
When sound-waves impinge on his ear he moves, not in accordance
with a mathematical equation involving the physical measure
numbers of the waves, but in accordance with the meaning that
those sound-waves are used to convey. To know what there is about
Mr. X which makes him behave in this strange way, we must look not
to a physical system of inference, but to that insight beneath the
symbols which in our own minds we possess. It is by this insight that
we can finally reach an answer to our question, What is Mr. X?
[41] A good illustration of such substitution is afforded by
astronomical observations of a certain double star with two
components of equal brightness. After an intermission of
observation the two components were inadvertently interchanged,
and the substitution was not detected until the increasing
discrepancy between the actual and predicted orbits was inquired
into.
[42] For example, we should most of us assume (hypothetically)
that the dynamical quality of the world referred to in chapter V is
characteristic of the whole background. Apparently it is not to be
found in the pointer readings, and our only insight into it is in the
feeling of “becoming” in our consciousness. “Becoming” like
“reasoning” is known to us only through its occurrence in our own
minds; but whereas it would be absurd to suppose that the latter
extends to inorganic aggregations of atoms, the former may be
(and commonly is) extended to the inorganic world, so that it is
not a matter of indifference whether the progress of the inorganic
world is viewed from past to future or from future to past.
[43] This is obviously true of all experimental physics, and must
be true of theoretical physics if it is (as it professes to be) based
on experiment.
[44] The solitary exception is, I believe, Dirac’s generalisation
which introduces -numbers (p. 210). There is as yet no approach
to a general system of inference on a non-numerical basis.
Chapter XIII
REALITY
The Real and the Concrete. One of our ancestors, taking arboreal
exercise in the forest, failed to reach the bough intended and his
hand closed on nothingness. The accident might well occasion
philosophical reflections on the distinctions of substance and void—
to say nothing of the phenomenon of gravity. However that may be,
his descendants down to this day have come to be endowed with an
immense respect for substance arising we know not how or why. So
far as familiar experience is concerned, substance occupies the
centre of the stage, rigged out with the attributes of form, colour,
hardness, etc., which appeal to our several senses. Behind it is a
subordinate background of space and time permeated by forces and
unconcrete agencies to minister to the star performer.
Our conception of substance is only vivid so long as we do not
face it. It begins to fade when we analyse it. We may dismiss many
of its supposed attributes which are evidently projections of our
sense-impressions outwards into the external world. Thus the colour
which is so vivid to us is in our minds and cannot be embodied in a
legitimate conception of the substantial object itself. But in any case
colour is no part of the essential nature of substance. Its supposed
nature is that which we try to call to mind by the word “concrete”,
which is perhaps an outward projection of our sense of touch. When
I try to abstract from the bough everything but its substance or
concreteness and concentrate on an effort to apprehend this, all
ideas elude me; but the effort brings with it an instinctive tightening
of the fingers—from which perhaps I might infer that my conception
of substance is not very different from my arboreal ancestor’s.
So strongly has substance held the place of leading actor on the
stage of experience that in common usage concrete and real are
almost synonymous. Ask any man who is not a philosopher or a
mystic to name something typically real; he is almost sure to choose
a concrete thing. Put the question to him whether Time is real; he will
probably decide with some hesitation that it must be classed as real,
but he has an inner feeling that the question is in some way
inappropriate and that he is being cross-examined unfairly.
In the scientific world the conception of substance is wholly
lacking, and that which most nearly replaces it, viz. electric charge, is
not exalted as star-performer above the other entities of physics. For
this reason the scientific world often shocks us by its appearance of
unreality. It offers nothing to satisfy our demand for the concrete.
How should it, when we cannot formulate that demand? I tried to
formulate it; but nothing resulted save a tightening of the fingers.
Science does not overlook the provision for tactual and muscular
sensation. In leading us away from the concrete, science is
reminding us that our contact with the real is more varied than was
apparent to the ape-mind, to whom the bough which supported him
typified the beginning and end of reality.
It is not solely the scientific world that will now occupy our
attention. In accordance with the last chapter we are taking a larger
view in which the cyclical schemes of physics are embraced with
much besides. But before venturing on this more risky ground I have
to emphasise one conclusion which is definitely scientific. The
modern scientific theories have broken away from the common
standpoint which identifies the real with the concrete. I think we
might go so far as to say that time is more typical of physical reality
than matter, because it is freer from those metaphysical associations
which physics disallows. It would not be fair, being given an inch, to
take an ell, and say that having gone so far physics may as well
admit at once that reality is spiritual. We must go more warily. But in
approaching such questions we are no longer tempted to take up the
attitude that everything which lacks concreteness is thereby self-
condemned.
The cleavage between the scientific and the extra-scientific
domain of experience is, I believe, not a cleavage between the
concrete and the transcendental but between the metrical and the