Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:

Dataism says that the universe consists of data flows, and the value of any phenomenon is determined by its contribution to data processing. This may strike you as an eccentric notion, but it has already conquered most of the scientific establishments. Dataism was born from the coming together of two scientific disciplines. Since Charles Darwin published 'On the Origin of Species', the life sciences have come to see organisms as biochemical algorithms. Simultaneously, since Alan Turing formulated the idea of a Turing Machine, computer scientists have learned to engineer increasingly sophisticated electronic algorithms. Dataism puts the two together, pointing out that exactly the same mathematical laws apply to both biochemical and electronic algorithms. Dataism thereby collapses the barrier between animals and machines, and expects electronic algorithms to eventually decipher and outperform biochemical algorithms.

For politicians, business people and ordinary consumers, Dataism offers groundbreaking technologies and immense new powers. For scholars and intellectuals it also promises to provide a single overarching theory that unifies all the scientific disciplines from literature and musicology to economics and biology. According to Dataism, King Lear and the flu virus are just two patterns of data flow that can be analysed using the same basic concepts and tools. This idea is extremely attractive. It gives all scientists a common language, builds bridges over academic rifts and easily exports insights across disciplinary borders. Musicologists, political scientists and cell biologists can finally understand each other.

In the process, Dataism inverts the traditional pyramid of learning. Hitherto, data was seen as only the first step in a long chain of intellectual activity. Humans were supposed to distil data into information, information into knowledge, and knowledge into wisdom. However, Dataists believe that humans can no longer cope with the immense flows of data, hence they cannot distil data into information, let alone into knowledge or wisdom. The work of processing data should therefore be entrusted to electronic algorithms, whose capacity far exceeds that of the human brain. In practice, this means that Dataists are sceptical about human knowledge and wisdom, and prefer to put their trust in Big Data and computer algorithms.

Dataism is firmly entrenched in its two mother disciplines: computer science and biology. Of the two, biology is the more important. It was the biological embracement of Dataism that turned a limited breakthrough in computer science into a world-shattering cataclysm that may completely transform the very nature of life. You may not agree with the idea that organisms are algorithms, and that giraffes, tomatoes and human beings are just different methods for processing data. But you should know that this is current scientific dogma, and that it is changing our world beyond recognition.

1. Read the following statements and write the correct answer on the basis of the above passage:

(1) Dataism might appear to the readers as an eccentric notion. True/False/Not given.

(ii) According to dataism, animals and machines are just two different kinds of data flow. True/False/Not given.

(iii) Dataism is rooted in biology and computer science. True/False/Not given.

(iv) Simultaneously, since Alan Turing formulated the idea of a Turing Machine, computer scientists have learned to engineer increasingly sophisticated electronic algorithms. What does the word engineer in this sentence mean?

(a) A person with a B.Tech. degree

(b) A person who operates an engine

(c) A person who is working as an engineer

(d) To construct

(v) Groundbreaking technologies mean:

(a) Technologies for digging ground

(b) Existing technologies

(c) Useless technologies

(d) Brand-new technologies

1. Answer the following questions in 100 words:

Make a Note on the above passage using headings and subheadings as well as recognizable abbreviations wherever necessary.

Write a Film Review in about 500-600 words of a movie you recently watched.