CAT 2023 Slot 3 Official Question Paper

An air conditioner (AC) company has four dealers, D1, D2, D3 and D4 in a city. It is evaluating sales performances of these dealers. The company sells two variants of AC's Window and Split. Both these variants can be either Inverter type or Non-inverter type. It is known that of the total number of ACs sold in the city, 25% were of Window variant, while the rest were of Split variant. Among the Inverter ACs sold, 20% were of Window variant. The following information is also known:

$$
1. Every dealer sold at least two window ACs.
$$$$
2. D1 sold 13 inverter ACs, while D3 sold 5 Non-inverter ACs.
$$$$
3. A total of six Window Non-inverter ACs and 36 Split Inverter ACs were sold in the city.
$$$$
4. The number of Split ACs sold by D1 was twice the number of Window ACs sold by it.
$$$$
5. D3 and D4 sold an equal number of Window ACs and this number was one-third of the number of similar ACs sold by D2.
$$$$
6. D2 and D3 were the only ones who sold Window Non-inverter ACs. The number of these ACs sold by D2 was twice the number of these ACs sold by D3.
$$$$
7. D3 and D4 sold an equal number of Split Inverter ACs. This number was half the number of similar ACs sold by D2.
$$

An air conditioner (AC) company has four dealers, D1, D2, D3 and D4 in a city. It is evaluating sales performances of these dealers. The company sells two variants of AC's Window and Split. Both these variants can be either Inverter type or Non-inverter type. It is known that of the total number of ACs sold in the city, 25% were of Window variant, while the rest were of Split variant. Among the Inverter ACs sold, 20% were of Window variant. The following information is also known:

$$
1. Every dealer sold at least two window ACs.
$$$$
2. D1 sold 13 inverter ACs, while D3 sold 5 Non-inverter ACs.
$$$$
3. A total of six Window Non-inverter ACs and 36 Split Inverter ACs were sold in the city.
$$$$
4. The number of Split ACs sold by D1 was twice the number of Window ACs sold by it.
$$$$
5. D3 and D4 sold an equal number of Window ACs and this number was one-third of the number of similar ACs sold by D2.
$$$$
6. D2 and D3 were the only ones who sold Window Non-inverter ACs. The number of these ACs sold by D2 was twice the number of these ACs sold by D3.
$$$$
7. D3 and D4 sold an equal number of Split Inverter ACs. This number was half the number of similar ACs sold by D2.
$$

An air conditioner (AC) company has four dealers, D1, D2, D3 and D4 in a city. It is evaluating sales performances of these dealers. The company sells two variants of AC's Window and Split. Both these variants can be either Inverter type or Non-inverter type. It is known that of the total number of ACs sold in the city, 25% were of Window variant, while the rest were of Split variant. Among the Inverter ACs sold, 20% were of Window variant. The following information is also known:

$$
1. Every dealer sold at least two window ACs.
$$$$
2. D1 sold 13 inverter ACs, while D3 sold 5 Non-inverter ACs.
$$$$
3. A total of six Window Non-inverter ACs and 36 Split Inverter ACs were sold in the city.
$$$$
4. The number of Split ACs sold by D1 was twice the number of Window ACs sold by it.
$$$$
5. D3 and D4 sold an equal number of Window ACs and this number was one-third of the number of similar ACs sold by D2.
$$$$
6. D2 and D3 were the only ones who sold Window Non-inverter ACs. The number of these ACs sold by D2 was twice the number of these ACs sold by D3.
$$$$
7. D3 and D4 sold an equal number of Split Inverter ACs. This number was half the number of similar ACs sold by D2.
$$

An air conditioner (AC) company has four dealers, D1, D2, D3 and D4 in a city. It is evaluating sales performances of these dealers. The company sells two variants of AC's Window and Split. Both these variants can be either Inverter type or Non-inverter type. It is known that of the total number of ACs sold in the city, 25% were of Window variant, while the rest were of Split variant. Among the Inverter ACs sold, 20% were of Window variant. The following information is also known:

$$
1. Every dealer sold at least two window ACs.
$$$$
2. D1 sold 13 inverter ACs, while D3 sold 5 Non-inverter ACs.
$$$$
3. A total of six Window Non-inverter ACs and 36 Split Inverter ACs were sold in the city.
$$$$
4. The number of Split ACs sold by D1 was twice the number of Window ACs sold by it.
$$$$
5. D3 and D4 sold an equal number of Window ACs and this number was one-third of the number of similar ACs sold by D2.
$$$$
6. D2 and D3 were the only ones who sold Window Non-inverter ACs. The number of these ACs sold by D2 was twice the number of these ACs sold by D3.
$$$$
7. D3 and D4 sold an equal number of Split Inverter ACs. This number was half the number of similar ACs sold by D2.
$$

An air conditioner (AC) company has four dealers, D1, D2, D3 and D4 in a city. It is evaluating sales performances of these dealers. The company sells two variants of AC's Window and Split. Both these variants can be either Inverter type or Non-inverter type. It is known that of the total number of ACs sold in the city, 25% were of Window variant, while the rest were of Split variant. Among the Inverter ACs sold, 20% were of Window variant. The following information is also known:

$$
1. Every dealer sold at least two window ACs.
$$$$
2. D1 sold 13 inverter ACs, while D3 sold 5 Non-inverter ACs.
$$$$
3. A total of six Window Non-inverter ACs and 36 Split Inverter ACs were sold in the city.
$$$$
4. The number of Split ACs sold by D1 was twice the number of Window ACs sold by it.
$$$$
5. D3 and D4 sold an equal number of Window ACs and this number was one-third of the number of similar ACs sold by D2.
$$$$
6. D2 and D3 were the only ones who sold Window Non-inverter ACs. The number of these ACs sold by D2 was twice the number of these ACs sold by D3.
$$$$
7. D3 and D4 sold an equal number of Split Inverter ACs. This number was half the number of similar ACs sold by D2.
$$

There are only three female students- Amala, Koli and Rini and only three male students Biman, Mathew and Shyamal in a course. The course has two evaluation components, a project and a test. The aggregate score in the course is a weighted average of the two components, with the weights being positive and adding to 1. The projects are done in groups of two, with each group consisting of a female and a male student. Both the group members obtain the same score in the project. The following additional facts are known about the scores in the project and the test. 1. The minimum, maximum and the average of both project and test scores were identical, 40, 80 and 60, respectively. 2. The test scores of the students were all multiples of 10; four of them were distinct and the remaining two were equal to the average test scores. 3. Amala's score in the project was double that of Koli in the same, but Koli scored 20 more than Amala in the test. Yet Amala had the highest aggregate score. 4. Shyamal scored the second highest in the test. He scored two more than Koli, but two less than Amala in the aggregate. 5. Biman scored the second lowest in the test and the lowest in the aggregate. 6. Mathew scored more than Rini in the project, but less than her in the test.

There are only three female students- Amala, Koli and Rini and only three male students Biman, Mathew and Shyamal in a course. The course has two evaluation components, a project and a test. The aggregate score in the course is a weighted average of the two components, with the weights being positive and adding to 1. The projects are done in groups of two, with each group consisting of a female and a male student. Both the group members obtain the same score in the project. The following additional facts are known about the scores in the project and the test. 1. The minimum, maximum and the average of both project and test scores were identical, 40, 80 and 60, respectively. 2. The test scores of the students were all multiples of 10; four of them were distinct and the remaining two were equal to the average test scores. 3. Amala's score in the project was double that of Koli in the same, but Koli scored 20 more than Amala in the test. Yet Amala had the highest aggregate score. 4. Shyamal scored the second highest in the test. He scored two more than Koli, but two less than Amala in the aggregate. 5. Biman scored the second lowest in the test and the lowest in the aggregate. 6. Mathew scored more than Rini in the project, but less than her in the test.

There are only three female students- Amala, Koli and Rini and only three male students Biman, Mathew and Shyamal in a course. The course has two evaluation components, a project and a test. The aggregate score in the course is a weighted average of the two components, with the weights being positive and adding to 1. The projects are done in groups of two, with each group consisting of a female and a male student. Both the group members obtain the same score in the project. The following additional facts are known about the scores in the project and the test. 1. The minimum, maximum and the average of both project and test scores were identical, 40, 80 and 60, respectively. 2. The test scores of the students were all multiples of 10; four of them were distinct and the remaining two were equal to the average test scores. 3. Amala's score in the project was double that of Koli in the same, but Koli scored 20 more than Amala in the test. Yet Amala had the highest aggregate score. 4. Shyamal scored the second highest in the test. He scored two more than Koli, but two less than Amala in the aggregate. 5. Biman scored the second lowest in the test and the lowest in the aggregate. 6. Mathew scored more than Rini in the project, but less than her in the test.

There are only three female students- Amala, Koli and Rini and only three male students Biman, Mathew and Shyamal in a course. The course has two evaluation components, a project and a test. The aggregate score in the course is a weighted average of the two components, with the weights being positive and adding to 1. The projects are done in groups of two, with each group consisting of a female and a male student. Both the group members obtain the same score in the project. The following additional facts are known about the scores in the project and the test. 1. The minimum, maximum and the average of both project and test scores were identical, 40, 80 and 60, respectively. 2. The test scores of the students were all multiples of 10; four of them were distinct and the remaining two were equal to the average test scores. 3. Amala's score in the project was double that of Koli in the same, but Koli scored 20 more than Amala in the test. Yet Amala had the highest aggregate score. 4. Shyamal scored the second highest in the test. He scored two more than Koli, but two less than Amala in the aggregate. 5. Biman scored the second lowest in the test and the lowest in the aggregate. 6. Mathew scored more than Rini in the project, but less than her in the test.

There are only three female students- Amala, Koli and Rini and only three male students Biman, Mathew and Shyamal in a course. The course has two evaluation components, a project and a test. The aggregate score in the course is a weighted average of the two components, with the weights being positive and adding to 1. The projects are done in groups of two, with each group consisting of a female and a male student. Both the group members obtain the same score in the project. The following additional facts are known about the scores in the project and the test. 1. The minimum, maximum and the average of both project and test scores were identical, 40, 80 and 60, respectively. 2. The test scores of the students were all multiples of 10; four of them were distinct and the remaining two were equal to the average test scores. 3. Amala's score in the project was double that of Koli in the same, but Koli scored 20 more than Amala in the test. Yet Amala had the highest aggregate score. 4. Shyamal scored the second highest in the test. He scored two more than Koli, but two less than Amala in the aggregate. 5. Biman scored the second lowest in the test and the lowest in the aggregate. 6. Mathew scored more than Rini in the project, but less than her in the test.

A, B, C, D, E and F are the six police stations in an area, which are connected by streets as shown below. Four teams - Team 1, Team 2, Team 3 and Team 4 - patrol these streets continuously between 09:00 hrs and 12:00 hrs each day. The teams need 30 minutes to cross a street connecting one police station to another. All four teams start from Station A at 09:00 hrs and must return to Station A by 12:00 hrs. They can also pass via Station A at any point on their journeys. The following facts are known.

1. None of the streets has more than one team traveling along it in any direction at any point in time.
$$$$
2. Teams 2 and 3 are the only ones in stations E and D respectively at 10:00 hrs.
$$$$
3. Teams 1 and 3 are the only ones in station E at 10:30 hrs.
$$$$
4. Teams 1 and 4 are the only ones in stations B and E respectively at 11:30 hrs.
$$$$
5. Team 1 and Team 4 are the only teams that patrol the street connecting stations A and E.
$$$$
6. Team 4 never passes through Stations B, D or F.

A, B, C, D, E and F are the six police stations in an area, which are connected by streets as shown below. Four teams - Team 1, Team 2, Team 3 and Team 4 - patrol these streets continuously between 09:00 hrs and 12:00 hrs each day. The teams need 30 minutes to cross a street connecting one police station to another. All four teams start from Station A at 09:00 hrs and must return to Station A by 12:00 hrs. They can also pass via Station A at any point on their journeys. The following facts are known.

1. None of the streets has more than one team traveling along it in any direction at any point in time.
$$$$
2. Teams 2 and 3 are the only ones in stations E and D respectively at 10:00 hrs.
$$$$
3. Teams 1 and 3 are the only ones in station E at 10:30 hrs.
$$$$
4. Teams 1 and 4 are the only ones in stations B and E respectively at 11:30 hrs.
$$$$
5. Team 1 and Team 4 are the only teams that patrol the street connecting stations A and E.
$$$$
6. Team 4 never passes through Stations B, D or F.

A, B, C, D, E and F are the six police stations in an area, which are connected by streets as shown below. Four teams - Team 1, Team 2, Team 3 and Team 4 - patrol these streets continuously between 09:00 hrs and 12:00 hrs each day. The teams need 30 minutes to cross a street connecting one police station to another. All four teams start from Station A at 09:00 hrs and must return to Station A by 12:00 hrs. They can also pass via Station A at any point on their journeys. The following facts are known.

1. None of the streets has more than one team traveling along it in any direction at any point in time.
$$$$
2. Teams 2 and 3 are the only ones in stations E and D respectively at 10:00 hrs.
$$$$
3. Teams 1 and 3 are the only ones in station E at 10:30 hrs.
$$$$
4. Teams 1 and 4 are the only ones in stations B and E respectively at 11:30 hrs.
$$$$
5. Team 1 and Team 4 are the only teams that patrol the street connecting stations A and E.
$$$$
6. Team 4 never passes through Stations B, D or F.

A, B, C, D, E and F are the six police stations in an area, which are connected by streets as shown below. Four teams - Team 1, Team 2, Team 3 and Team 4 - patrol these streets continuously between 09:00 hrs and 12:00 hrs each day. The teams need 30 minutes to cross a street connecting one police station to another. All four teams start from Station A at 09:00 hrs and must return to Station A by 12:00 hrs. They can also pass via Station A at any point on their journeys. The following facts are known.

1. None of the streets has more than one team traveling along it in any direction at any point in time.
$$$$
2. Teams 2 and 3 are the only ones in stations E and D respectively at 10:00 hrs.
$$$$
3. Teams 1 and 3 are the only ones in station E at 10:30 hrs.
$$$$
4. Teams 1 and 4 are the only ones in stations B and E respectively at 11:30 hrs.
$$$$
5. Team 1 and Team 4 are the only teams that patrol the street connecting stations A and E.
$$$$
6. Team 4 never passes through Stations B, D or F.

A, B, C, D, E and F are the six police stations in an area, which are connected by streets as shown below. Four teams - Team 1, Team 2, Team 3 and Team 4 - patrol these streets continuously between 09:00 hrs and 12:00 hrs each day. The teams need 30 minutes to cross a street connecting one police station to another. All four teams start from Station A at 09:00 hrs and must return to Station A by 12:00 hrs. They can also pass via Station A at any point on their journeys. The following facts are known.

1. None of the streets has more than one team traveling along it in any direction at any point in time.
$$$$
2. Teams 2 and 3 are the only ones in stations E and D respectively at 10:00 hrs.
$$$$
3. Teams 1 and 3 are the only ones in station E at 10:30 hrs.
$$$$
4. Teams 1 and 4 are the only ones in stations B and E respectively at 11:30 hrs.
$$$$
5. Team 1 and Team 4 are the only teams that patrol the street connecting stations A and E.
$$$$
6. Team 4 never passes through Stations B, D or F.

In a coaching class, some students register online, and some others register offline. No student registers both online and offline; hence the total registration number is the sum of online and offline registrations. The following facts and table pertain to these registration numbers for the five months, January to May of 2023. The table shows the minimum, maximum, median registration numbers of these five months, separately for online, offline and total number of registrations. The following additional facts are known.

The number of online registrations was the largest in May.

In a coaching class, some students register online, and some others register offline. No student registers both online and offline; hence the total registration number is the sum of online and offline registrations. The following facts and table pertain to these registration numbers for the five months, January to May of 2023. The table shows the minimum, maximum, median registration numbers of these five months, separately for online, offline and total number of registrations. The following additional facts are known.

The number of online registrations was the largest in May.

In a coaching class, some students register online, and some others register offline. No student registers both online and offline; hence the total registration number is the sum of online and offline registrations. The following facts and table pertain to these registration numbers for the five months, January to May of 2023. The table shows the minimum, maximum, median registration numbers of these five months, separately for online, offline and total number of registrations. The following additional facts are known.

The number of online registrations was the largest in May.

In a coaching class, some students register online, and some others register offline. No student registers both online and offline; hence the total registration number is the sum of online and offline registrations. The following facts and table pertain to these registration numbers for the five months, January to May of 2023. The table shows the minimum, maximum, median registration numbers of these five months, separately for online, offline and total number of registrations. The following additional facts are known.

The number of online registrations was the largest in May.

In a coaching class, some students register online, and some others register offline. No student registers both online and offline; hence the total registration number is the sum of online and offline registrations. The following facts and table pertain to these registration numbers for the five months, January to May of 2023. The table shows the minimum, maximum, median registration numbers of these five months, separately for online, offline and total number of registrations. The following additional facts are known.

The number of online registrations was the largest in May.

Steven Pinker's new book, "Rationality: What It is, Why it Seems Scarce, Why It Matters," offers a pragmatic dose of measured optimism, presenting rationality as a fragile but achievable ideal in personal and civic life. Pinker's ambition to illuminate such a crucial topic offers the welcome prospect of a return to sanity. It's no small achievement to make formal logic, game theory, statistics and Bayesian reasoning delightful topics full of charm and relevance.

It's also plausible to believe that a wider application of the rational tools he analyzes would improve the world in important ways. His primer on statistics and scientific uncertainty is particularly timely and should be required reading before consuming any news about the COVID pandemic. More broadly, he argues that less media coverage of shocking but vanishingly rare events, from shark attacks to adverse vaccine reactions, would help prevent dangerous overreactions, fatalism and the diversion of finite resources away from solvable but less-dramatic issues, like malnutrition in the developing world.

It's a reasonable critique, and Pinker is not the first to make it. But analyzing the political economy of journalism its funding structures, ownership concentration and increasing reliance on social media shares would have given a fuller picture of why so much coverage is so misguided and what we might do about it.

Pinker's main focus is the sort of conscious, sequential reasoning that can track the steps in a geometric proof or an argument in formal logic. Skill in this domain maps directly onto the navigation of many real-world problems, and Pinker shows how greater mastery of the tools of rationality can improve decision-making in medical, legal, financial and many other contexts in which we must act on uncertain and shifting information.

Despite the undeniable power of the sort of rationality he describes, many of the deepest insights in the history of science, math, music and art strike their originators in moments of epiphany. From the 19th century chemist Friedrich August Kekulé's discovery of the structure of benzene to any of Mozart's symphonies, much extraordinary human achievement is not a product of conscious, sequential reasoning. Even Plato's Socrates who anticipated many of Pinker's points by nearly 2,500 years, showing the virtue of knowing what you do not know and examining all premises in arguments, not simply trusting speakers' authority or charisma attributed many of his most profound insights to dreams and visions. Conscious reasoning is helpful in sorting the wheat from the chaff, but it would be interesting to consider the hidden aquifers that make much of the grain grow in the first place.

The role of moral and ethical education in promoting rational behavior is also underexplored. Pinker recognizes that rationality "is not just a cognitive virtue but a moral one." But this profoundly important point, one subtly explored by ancient Greek philosophers like Plato and Aristotle, doesn't really get developed. This is a shame, since possessing the right sort of moral character is arguably a precondition for using rationality in beneficial ways.3

Steven Pinker's new book, "Rationality: What It is, Why it Seems Scarce, Why It Matters," offers a pragmatic dose of measured optimism, presenting rationality as a fragile but achievable ideal in personal and civic life. Pinker's ambition to illuminate such a crucial topic offers the welcome prospect of a return to sanity. It's no small achievement to make formal logic, game theory, statistics and Bayesian reasoning delightful topics full of charm and relevance.

It's also plausible to believe that a wider application of the rational tools he analyzes would improve the world in important ways. His primer on statistics and scientific uncertainty is particularly timely and should be required reading before consuming any news about the COVID pandemic. More broadly, he argues that less media coverage of shocking but vanishingly rare events, from shark attacks to adverse vaccine reactions, would help prevent dangerous overreactions, fatalism and the diversion of finite resources away from solvable but less-dramatic issues, like malnutrition in the developing world.

It's a reasonable critique, and Pinker is not the first to make it. But analyzing the political economy of journalism its funding structures, ownership concentration and increasing reliance on social media shares would have given a fuller picture of why so much coverage is so misguided and what we might do about it.

Pinker's main focus is the sort of conscious, sequential reasoning that can track the steps in a geometric proof or an argument in formal logic. Skill in this domain maps directly onto the navigation of many real-world problems, and Pinker shows how greater mastery of the tools of rationality can improve decision-making in medical, legal, financial and many other contexts in which we must act on uncertain and shifting information.

Despite the undeniable power of the sort of rationality he describes, many of the deepest insights in the history of science, math, music and art strike their originators in moments of epiphany. From the 19th century chemist Friedrich August Kekulé's discovery of the structure of benzene to any of Mozart's symphonies, much extraordinary human achievement is not a product of conscious, sequential reasoning. Even Plato's Socrates who anticipated many of Pinker's points by nearly 2,500 years, showing the virtue of knowing what you do not know and examining all premises in arguments, not simply trusting speakers' authority or charisma attributed many of his most profound insights to dreams and visions. Conscious reasoning is helpful in sorting the wheat from the chaff, but it would be interesting to consider the hidden aquifers that make much of the grain grow in the first place.

The role of moral and ethical education in promoting rational behavior is also underexplored. Pinker recognizes that rationality "is not just a cognitive virtue but a moral one." But this profoundly important point, one subtly explored by ancient Greek philosophers like Plato and Aristotle, doesn't really get developed. This is a shame, since possessing the right sort of moral character is arguably a precondition for using rationality in beneficial ways.3

Steven Pinker's new book, "Rationality: What It is, Why it Seems Scarce, Why It Matters," offers a pragmatic dose of measured optimism, presenting rationality as a fragile but achievable ideal in personal and civic life. Pinker's ambition to illuminate such a crucial topic offers the welcome prospect of a return to sanity. It's no small achievement to make formal logic, game theory, statistics and Bayesian reasoning delightful topics full of charm and relevance.

It's also plausible to believe that a wider application of the rational tools he analyzes would improve the world in important ways. His primer on statistics and scientific uncertainty is particularly timely and should be required reading before consuming any news about the COVID pandemic. More broadly, he argues that less media coverage of shocking but vanishingly rare events, from shark attacks to adverse vaccine reactions, would help prevent dangerous overreactions, fatalism and the diversion of finite resources away from solvable but less-dramatic issues, like malnutrition in the developing world.

It's a reasonable critique, and Pinker is not the first to make it. But analyzing the political economy of journalism its funding structures, ownership concentration and increasing reliance on social media shares would have given a fuller picture of why so much coverage is so misguided and what we might do about it.

Pinker's main focus is the sort of conscious, sequential reasoning that can track the steps in a geometric proof or an argument in formal logic. Skill in this domain maps directly onto the navigation of many real-world problems, and Pinker shows how greater mastery of the tools of rationality can improve decision-making in medical, legal, financial and many other contexts in which we must act on uncertain and shifting information.

Despite the undeniable power of the sort of rationality he describes, many of the deepest insights in the history of science, math, music and art strike their originators in moments of epiphany. From the 19th century chemist Friedrich August Kekulé's discovery of the structure of benzene to any of Mozart's symphonies, much extraordinary human achievement is not a product of conscious, sequential reasoning. Even Plato's Socrates who anticipated many of Pinker's points by nearly 2,500 years, showing the virtue of knowing what you do not know and examining all premises in arguments, not simply trusting speakers' authority or charisma attributed many of his most profound insights to dreams and visions. Conscious reasoning is helpful in sorting the wheat from the chaff, but it would be interesting to consider the hidden aquifers that make much of the grain grow in the first place.

The role of moral and ethical education in promoting rational behavior is also underexplored. Pinker recognizes that rationality "is not just a cognitive virtue but a moral one." But this profoundly important point, one subtly explored by ancient Greek philosophers like Plato and Aristotle, doesn't really get developed. This is a shame, since possessing the right sort of moral character is arguably a precondition for using rationality in beneficial ways.3

Steven Pinker's new book, "Rationality: What It is, Why it Seems Scarce, Why It Matters," offers a pragmatic dose of measured optimism, presenting rationality as a fragile but achievable ideal in personal and civic life. Pinker's ambition to illuminate such a crucial topic offers the welcome prospect of a return to sanity. It's no small achievement to make formal logic, game theory, statistics and Bayesian reasoning delightful topics full of charm and relevance.

It's also plausible to believe that a wider application of the rational tools he analyzes would improve the world in important ways. His primer on statistics and scientific uncertainty is particularly timely and should be required reading before consuming any news about the COVID pandemic. More broadly, he argues that less media coverage of shocking but vanishingly rare events, from shark attacks to adverse vaccine reactions, would help prevent dangerous overreactions, fatalism and the diversion of finite resources away from solvable but less-dramatic issues, like malnutrition in the developing world.

It's a reasonable critique, and Pinker is not the first to make it. But analyzing the political economy of journalism its funding structures, ownership concentration and increasing reliance on social media shares would have given a fuller picture of why so much coverage is so misguided and what we might do about it.

Pinker's main focus is the sort of conscious, sequential reasoning that can track the steps in a geometric proof or an argument in formal logic. Skill in this domain maps directly onto the navigation of many real-world problems, and Pinker shows how greater mastery of the tools of rationality can improve decision-making in medical, legal, financial and many other contexts in which we must act on uncertain and shifting information.

Despite the undeniable power of the sort of rationality he describes, many of the deepest insights in the history of science, math, music and art strike their originators in moments of epiphany. From the 19th century chemist Friedrich August Kekulé's discovery of the structure of benzene to any of Mozart's symphonies, much extraordinary human achievement is not a product of conscious, sequential reasoning. Even Plato's Socrates who anticipated many of Pinker's points by nearly 2,500 years, showing the virtue of knowing what you do not know and examining all premises in arguments, not simply trusting speakers' authority or charisma attributed many of his most profound insights to dreams and visions. Conscious reasoning is helpful in sorting the wheat from the chaff, but it would be interesting to consider the hidden aquifers that make much of the grain grow in the first place.

The role of moral and ethical education in promoting rational behavior is also underexplored. Pinker recognizes that rationality "is not just a cognitive virtue but a moral one." But this profoundly important point, one subtly explored by ancient Greek philosophers like Plato and Aristotle, doesn't really get developed. This is a shame, since possessing the right sort of moral character is arguably a precondition for using rationality in beneficial ways.3

In 2006, the Met (art museum in the US) agreed to return the Euphronios krater, a masterpiece Greek urn that had been a museum draw since 1972. In 2007, the Getty (art museum in the US) agreed to return 40 objects to Italy, including a marble Aphrodite, in the midst of looting scandals. And in December, Sotheby's and a private owner agreed to return an ancient Khmer statue of a warrior, pulled from auction two years before, to Cambodia.

Cultural property, or patrimony, laws limit the transfer of cultural property outside the source country's territory, including outright export prohibitions and national ownership laws. Most art historians, archaeologists, museum officials and policymakers portray cultural property laws in general as invaluable tools for counteracting the ugly legacy of Western cultural imperialism.

During the late 19th and early 20th century - an era former Met director Thomas Having called "the age of piracy" - American and European art museums acquired antiquities by hook or by crook, from grave robbers or souvenir collectors, bounty from digs and ancient sites in impoverished but art-rich source countries. Patrimony laws were intended to protect future archaeological discoveries against Western imperialist designs.

I surveyed 90 countries with one or more archaeological sites on UNESCO's World Heritage Site list, and my study shows that in most cases the number of discovered sites diminishes sharply after a country passes a cultural property law. There are 222 archaeological sites listed for those 90 countries. When you look into the history of the sites, you see that all but 21 were discovered before the passage of cultural property laws.

Strict cultural patrimony laws are popular in most countries. But the downside may be that they reduce incentives for foreign governments, non governmental organizations and educational institutions to invest in overseas exploration because their efforts will not necessarily be rewarded by opportunities to hold, display and study what is uncovered. To the extent that source countries can fund their own archaeological projects, artifacts and sites may still be discovered. The survey has far-reaching implications. It suggests that source countries, particularly in the developing world, should narrow their cultural property laws so that they can reap the benefits of new archaeological discoveries, which typically increase tourism and enhance cultural pride. This does not mean these nations should abolish restrictions on foreign excavation and foreign claims to artifacts.

China provides an interesting alternative approach for source nations eager for foreign archaeological investment. From 1935 to 2003, China had a restrictive cultural property law that prohibited foreign ownership of Chinese cultural artifacts. In those years, China's most significant archaeological discovery occurred by chance, in 1974, when peasant farmers accidentally uncovered ranks of buried terra cotta warriors, which are part of Emperor Qin's spectacular tomb system.

In 2003, the Chinese government switched course, dropping its cultural property law and embracing collaborative international archaeological research. Since then, China has nominated 11 archaeological sites for inclusion in the World Heritage Site list, including eight in 2013, the most ever for China.