Parallels between GMAT Prep and Life #2

Many GMAT aspirants believe that questions in the verbal section of the GMAT are designed to have one or two close incorrect options, i.e., options that are almost correct.?

Why do they believe so?

Because this is their experience. They can easily eliminate two to three options out of five but then get stuck in the last two-three options.?

Let’s suppose I say that the test has four clearly incorrect options and one clearly correct option. In other words, there are no close options.

If I say so, many people will strongly argue against me. What I am saying goes against their daily experience. How can I be correct?!

Rather, many may become infuriated. “How come CJ have the courage to claim such falsity! He says options are not close. Does he live in this world? Has he seen GMAT questions ever? Anybody who has solved GMAT verbal questions knows that two or three options are quite close.”

While many may be convinced that two or three options in many verbal questions are close, all the top experts agree that this is not the case. The verbal section doesn’t have questions with close options. Every verbal question has four clearly incorrect options and one clearly correct option.

Many people find options close not because the options are actually close but because those people lack comprehension and/or reasoning. Without precise comprehension or reasoning, people perceive incorrect options as almost correct. Thus, they experience the test as having close options.?

They believe that their experience reflects reality. They don’t understand that they experience reality through the lens of their skills. Since their skills are deficient, their experience is distorted; they don’t experience things the way things are; they experience things the way their skills experience those things.

Experts have precise comprehension and reasoning skills. They don’t experience verbal questions as having close options. They can eliminate four options for clear reasons and select one option for a clear reason.

Thus, while regular GMAT aspirants and top experts both solve the same GMAT verbal questions, their experiences with the questions are very different.

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The same is the case in life. Many people believe that life is full of suffering. “With so many problems, so many unfortunate events happening, and so many bad people, how can one not suffer?!”

Many believe that life is suffering because this is their experience of life.

Let’s suppose I say that life is not designed to be filled with suffering and that we suffer because of ignorance and negative thinking.

Most will strongly argue against me. Many will become infuriated. “How come CJ have the gall to say such nonsense, unbelievable things! What selfish interests does he have to make such false statements?!”

However, many saints and wise men have said that life can be full of joy. We suffer not because life is full of suffering. We suffer because we experience life through the lens of our perspectives. Suffering lies not in life but in our perspectives. If we change the way we perceive life, we won’t suffer. As someone said, “Srishti nahi badalti. Drishti badalti hai.” (The world doesn’t change; the eyes with which we see the world change)

Thus, while both wise men and normal people like me live in the same world, our experiences are vastly different - I find the world insufferable, while wise men find the world beautiful. The difference lies in our perception.

How is the above knowledge useful?

How does knowing that options are not designed to be close help GMAT aspirants?

This knowledge helps GMAT aspirants the way awareness of any problem helps. If you don’t even know there is a problem, you won’t look for a solution. Once you become aware of the problem, you can begin seeking a solution. Finding a solution may take time - in some cases, a very long time - but at least, you have begun the journey. You are closer to your goal than you were before starting.?

When people believe that options are designed to be close, they don’t try to improve their comprehension and reasoning skills by learning from those options that they find close. They don’t even realize that they have a reasoning or comprehension problem. They believe that this is the way the test is.

Once they get to know that options are not close in reality but seem close to them because of their lack of skills, they can start learning from every question by trying to understand why they find options close. They can gradually address the deficiencies in their comprehension and reasoning.?

At times, my sharing this knowledge with GMAT aspirants who have been preparing for the GMAT for more than a year has proven to be a turning point in their preparation. They had been preparing but not improving because they didn’t know where the problem lay.?

Similarly, the knowledge that life is not designed to bring suffering can help people. When you believe that life is designed to be filled with suffering, you won’t even look for a way out. Why? Because you believe that there is no way out. This is how life is.

However, if you begin to believe that life is not supposed to be suffered and that you are suffering because of the way you perceive life, you can begin to work on yourself - your perspectives, your thought patterns, your motivations, your goals, and your understanding of and relationship with life. Of course, bringing any material change in yourself may take, perhaps, a very long time. But, at least, the journey will start. You’ll be closer to your goal of joy than you were before starting.?

Instead of looking for a solution when they become aware of the problem, many people become even more dejected.?

Why?

When some GMAT aspirants get to know that the options are not designed to be close in GMAT verbal and that they find options close because of their lack of skills, they become discouraged.?

“Oh! I don’t have the skills. You mean, I need a lot of time to ace this test. Perhaps, I can never ace this test. I feel so bad for myself. Why am I so stupid?! Why do I lack such skills?! This should not have been the case.”

Essentially, when they get to know that the problem lies with them, they start feeling bad about themselves; they find themselves deficient and unworthy.?

They don’t think, “Nice! I have identified the problem now. I can now work on building my skills, and then I’ll be able to ace this test.”

They rather think, “Oh! I have got a problem. And the problem lies within me. So sad!”

Instead of working toward a solution for the problem, they become a part of the problem. The way they react to the problem makes the problem bigger. Not only do they lack skills but by worrying about the problem, they make themselves incapable of building those skills.

What’s the way out?

The way out is to become a part of the solution, not a part of the problem. The way out is to accept the problem and not bemoan why the problem is there. The way out is to channel your energies toward addressing the problem and not bash yourself for having the problem.

Similarly, when some people get to know that their suffering is self-inflicted, i.e., they are suffering because of their perspectives and habitual negative thinking, they suffer more.

“Oh! I have these negative thoughts. I am so bad. I am causing myself suffering. What can be worse than that! I am such a miserable person!”

The awareness that our suffering is due to our negative thought patterns and distorted perspectives can lead to the intensification of suffering because we may indulge in self-bashing.

By bashing or criticizing ourselves for being responsible for our suffering, we suffer more. We don’t realize that criticizing ourselves is part of the negative thought patterns that inflict suffering on us. To even begin to solve the problem of negative thinking, we need to first stop criticizing ourselves for having the problem.

The way out of suffering is to accept that there is a problem and not bemoan why the problem is there. The way out is to use our energies to uplift our perspectives and change our habitual tendencies and not to beat ourselves for having those in the first place. The way out is to deal positively with the problem and not to react negatively to the problem.