Unit 16: Critical Thinking Solution
(What is Soul?)

Ways with words

A. The words in the crossword puzzle are from the text. Find them from the text to solve the puzzle based on the meaning clues given below.

Ans:

unquestionable, impossible to doubt=indubitable

never done or known before=unprecedented

emergence or origination=emanation

obviously or clearly=evidently

impossible to achieve or overcome=insuperable

moved with a violent, irregular action=agitated

appropriate or suitable=apt

force back=repel

conservative=orthodox

up to now=hitherto

B. Find the words from the text that mean the following.

a. misleading or illusionary (deceptive)

b. in a natural state; not yet processed or refined (crude)

c. a mystical horse like animal with a single straight horn projecting from its forehead (unicorn)

d. never dying or decaying (immortal)

e. come to an end; stop (cease)

f. to activate or put into motion (actuate)

Comprehension

Answer these questions 

a. What’s the difference between the body and the soul?

Ans. The difference between the body and the soul is, the body is in time and space, but the soul is in time only.

b.What do you understand by the psychologists’ saying that there is no such thing as mind? 

Ans. It means, the psychologists believe that there is no existence of mind.

c.How can a mental activity be reduced to a physical activity?

Ans. A modern materialist finds himself in a curious position and with a certain degree of his success a mental activity can be reduced to a physical activity.

d. How are mind and body related? 

Ans. Mind and body are related as they are merely convenient ways of organizing events. Mind is an emanation of body, an body is an invention of mind.

e. What is the relation between mind and memory? Does memory survive a person’s death?

Ans: The important characteristics of mind is memory. No, it does not survive a person’s death. Memory is clearly connected with a certain kind of brain structure and when this structure decays at death memory also must cease.

f.How is our power on the earth’s surface entirely dependent upon the sun? 

Ans: Our power on the earth’s surface is entirely dependent upon the sun because it gives us heat and light. The plants prepare their food with the help of sunlight. Without sun, human, existence on this earth is impossible.

Critical thinking

a.Do you believe that soul really exists? Write your arguments in support of your answer. 

Ans: There are many things that we believe but we do not have any evidence to prove that, they really exist. The concept of soul is one of them. Many people assume that the soul exists and it remains in human body. But it is just an assumption because nobody has seen it. There is not any evidence to prove it. There are internal organs such as heart, kidneys, liver and so on and they can be seen and their functions can be realized. But, what does soul really do? Where does it remain in our body? What does it look like? Nobody has any clear answer of these questions. Science needs evidence to prove anything which lacks in the matter of soul. Therefore, there is not any evidence to say that soul really exists.

b. If you want to change your body, you first have to change your mind. Discuss. 

Ans. It is true that until and unless we change our mind we cannot change our body. All the activities of our body are controlled by our mind. How we behave others, different activities we

perform are results of our mind. Usually, people change their mind due to extrinsic or intrinsic motivation. We should make up our mind and be sure of it before we do something. We are clearly guided by our mind. Our performance is entirely controlled and directed by mind. Some people may pretend that they have changed their mind but do not act accordingly. One should always direct his her mind to positive work.

Writing 

Write critically on the given topics. 

a. The existence of God

Ans: People believe that gods exist. Although there is no any evidence to prove it, it is widely accepted phenomenon. Theists strongly believe in the existence of god and worship them. Belief in god ties a person in moral duty. Some philosophers say that belief in god is rationally justified even without theistic argument or evidence. It is still a topic of debate that, do gods really exist? People may express their own view regarding it that depends on their schooling.

Modern science needs enough evidence to prove anything because they believe only in material. Although, there is not any evidence to prove the existence of god many people believe that there is an unseen power that controls the universe. Everything automatically takes place in nature, how it happens? What or who is that unseen power? No one can clearly say about existence or non- existence of god because the supporters of both views do not have enough evidence.

b. Religion influences ethics and morality

Ans: Religion, ethics and morality are interrelated. Moral and ethical values automatically come with religion. Ethics and morality are the foundations of every religion. No religion allows its followers to go against them. There is no doubt that religion influences ethics and morality. Religious people consider it sin to go against these virtues. People, either theist or atheist, everyone should have these qualities. Most religions have an ethical component. Ethics deals with ideas such as rights, duties, responsibilites, good and so on. Religion plays important role in making moral decision. Some of our most basic moral sentiments are directly connected to religious ideology.

Although, no religion allows its followers to commit crime, support violence, or do any immoral act, many people in this selfish world, go against them. Now days it is seen that people lack ethics and moral values. They play very important role to maintain peace and harmony in a society. People judge others according to a set of adopted criteria such a nationality, education, social class. profession and religious belief. Thus, religion influences our thought and how we behave with others is determined by our schooling.

Grammar

A. Rewrite the following sentences using ‘used to’. You can make an affirmative/ negative statement or a question.

a. I/live in a flat when I was a child.

I used to live in a flat when I was a child.

b. She/love eating chocolate but now she hates it.

She used to love eating chocolate but now she hates it.

c. He/go to fishing in the summer?

Did he use to go fishing in the summer?

d. My sister/play tennis when she was at school.

My sister used to play tennis when she was at school.

e. He/play football every weekend?

Did he use to play football every weekend?

f. My grandfather/speak five languages.

My grandfather used to speak five languages.

g. I/not hate school from the beginning.

I did not use to hate school from the beginning.

h. You/live in Kathmandu?

Did you use to live in Kathmandu?

i. He/play Dandibiyo when he was a small child.

He used to play Dandibiyo when he was a small child.

j. She/wear a frock when she was small but nowadays she wears jeans.

She used to wear a frock when she was small but nowadays she wears jeans.

B. Write a short paragraph describing your past habits.

I lived with my uncle for five years. I used to start my regular tasks at my uncle’s house in the mornings. I used to strive for first place in my class despite having a full-time job at home. Despite my school’s lack of resources, my instructors used locally available materials to make their lessons successful. They’d make us feel better in class by being nice. Our English instructor assigned us project work. It was extremely beneficial to our academic endeavors.