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This is today's college board question of the day. What do you guys think the answer is and why?

The test of truth is not ----, for we have often felt firmly convinced of many things that were not so.

a.implication
b.certitude
c.originality
d.impartiality
e.moderation

By jim on Saturday, February 15, 2003 - 08:17 pm: Edit

certitude because of the sense of uncertainty in the latter part of the sentence

By Incognito (Incognito) on Saturday, February 15, 2003 - 08:28 pm: Edit

i agree w/jim,

when they say "we have often felt firmly convinced of many things that were not so" it may signify that we can never be completely certain (there's always a lack of certitude), hence the test of truth is not in certitude.

implication has nothing to do w/the scentence.
nor does originality, impartiality, or moderation. In fact, there is no part of the scentence that considers these. The scentence itself is about certainty and a lack thereof.

By me on Saturday, February 15, 2003 - 08:38 pm: Edit

How can you be convinced of something you are uncertain about? Isn't this a contradiction?

Why would you be convinced of something you are not certain about?

By Jason817 (Jason817) on Saturday, February 15, 2003 - 08:46 pm: Edit

I Actually got this one right. The keyword is "NOT".

By Jason817 (Jason817) on Saturday, February 15, 2003 - 08:46 pm: Edit

the first "NOT" that is.

By dweeze on Sunday, February 16, 2003 - 11:06 am: Edit

The test of truth is not ----, for we have often felt firmly convinced of many things that were not so.

a.implication
b.certitude
c.originality
d.impartiality
e.moderation

You have to think of it like an argument against the proposition that the test of truth is certitude. That proposition basically means that if you're convinced of something, then it must be true. How do we know that proposition is false? Because people are sometimes convinced of things (like the geocentric theory, for instance) that are not true. If the right answer were "implication," then the second half of the sentence would have to say "for many things are IMPLIED that are not so." And if the right answer were "originality," the you'd expect "for many things that are ORIGINAL are not true." And so on. The fact that you have FIRMLY CONVINCED OF in the second half of the sentence makes "certitude" the only logical choice.

By dj_cosine on Sunday, February 16, 2003 - 11:20 am: Edit

the answer is B, i am certain of it.

By Justwannahelp (Justwannahelp) on Monday, February 17, 2003 - 08:43 pm: Edit

lol i got certitude, too, but only by process of elimination.

By Incognito (Incognito) on Monday, February 17, 2003 - 08:44 pm: Edit

By your local mayor on Monday, February 17, 2003 - 09:53 pm: Edit

feel special?

By Justwannahelp (Justwannahelp) on Friday, March 07, 2003 - 05:55 pm: Edit

very special, yes.

By Incognito (Incognito) on Thursday, March 13, 2003 - 06:01 pm: Edit

bump