conclude?
Here is a passage
''The English do not approach life intellectually; they do not demand that it shall conform to some rigid mental plan; they are not convinced that the universe can be penetrated by thought; they are willing to go to work, either in politics or art, without a theory to sustain them; and when they are more practical than other races, it is not—as those races frequently CONCLUDE—because they are coldly clear-sighted and unimaginative, but because they do not busy themselves asking reason to find a key when instinct has already shown them that the door is wide open.''

What does ''—as those races frequently CONCLUDE—'' mean?
Does this mean "those races frequently conclude that the English are more practical because they are coldly clear-sighted and unimaginative", or mean"other races are less practical than the English because they frequently conclude", or, both are correct?
Why?
Thank you!

Question

conclude?
Here is a passage
''The English do not approach life intellectually; they do not demand that it shall conform to some rigid mental plan; they are not convinced that the universe can be penetrated by thought; they are willing to go to work, either in politics or art, without a theory to sustain them; and when they are more practical than other races, it is not—as those races frequently CONCLUDE—because they are coldly clear-sighted and unimaginative, but because they do not busy themselves asking reason to find a key when instinct has already shown them that the door is wide open.''

What does  ''—as those races frequently CONCLUDE—'' mean?
Does this mean "those races frequently conclude that the English are more practical because they are coldly clear-sighted and unimaginative",  or mean"other races are less practical than the English because they frequently conclude", or, both are correct?
Why?
Thank you!

Answer

The first one is correct.

Sometimes if there is extra information between em dashes like that, it can be hard to read smoothly in one go. (em dash is the name for the long hyphen –). You can try reading the sentence without the em dash to understand the core information:

"... it is not because they are coldly clear-sighted and unimaginative ..."

That makes the main point a little clearer. You can also try moving the middle section to the start:

"... as those races frequently conclude, it is not because they are coldly clear-sighted and unimaginative ..."

Hopefully that's a little clearer. This might not always work, but it can help when a sentence contains a lot of nested information.

Answer

Does this mean "those races frequently conclude that the English are more practical because they are coldly clear-sighted and unimaginative"--dodoremi

Yes.. this is the meaning.    However,   whoever wrote this has engaged a common logical error designated the Fallacy of the Non Sequitur.  It is a contradiction in terms to say that any collective is "clear-sighted"  and at the same time,  "unimaginative". To be "clear-sighted" is to be  "imaginative".   Discrimination in thought  is   by definition,  and exercise in  "imagaination".

Otherwise, what you posted  was   biased writing and   essentially, rhetorical garbage.
Modern people do not employ  Race as a premise for any conclusion unless they are engaging in  biased thinking.

Furthermore,  the entire quote you cited  consists of a  common logical error designated the Fallacy of the Sweeping Generalization.   Such devices are commonly seen in  propagandistic writings, intended to generate hatred of a race.

For example,  the claim  that  "the English do not approach  life intellectually"  lacks  factual substantiation,  and thus fails to fulfill the Principle of the Burden of Proof.

.

.I wonder where you took this from?

Answers · 4

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