Applying standards for critical comprehension of the texts: Read the passages and decide what standards to apply in judging the truthfulness of the facts.
1. The Chicago Tribune once wrote that Henry Ford, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, was an ignorant man. Ford sued, challenging the paper to “prove it.” During the trial, Ford was asked dozens of simple, general information questions: “When was the Civil War?” “Name the presidents of the United States,” and so on. Ford, who had little formal education, could answer very few. Finally, exasperated, he said, “I don’t know the answers to those questions, but I could find a man in five minutes who does. I use my brain to think, not store up a lot of useless facts.”
2. Most people would like to think that they choose their friends solely on the basis of personal characteristics. A classic study of a housing complex for married students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) suggests that proximity—nearness and availability—can be an important factor. Researchers asked couples to list their friends in the complex. They found that residents were far more likely to list the couple in the next apartment than one that lived two doors away, and more likely to visit with a couple two doors away than with one three or four doors away. A distance of thirty feet or a short elevator ride made the difference between friends and strangers! More recent studies have confirmed the importance of proximity. One possible explanation is that whenever people encounter strangers, they feel tense. The more they see a person, they more they come to think of that person as predictable and safe, and hence the more likely they are to strike up a conversation that leads to friendship. This would explain why the most popular couples in the MIT housing complex were those who lived at the bottom of the stairs near the garbage cans that everyone used.