Self-study
Columnist: Support The relief from the drudgery of physical labor that much modern technology affords its users renders them dependent on this technology, and, Support more importantly, on the elaborate energy systems required to run it. ████ █████ ██ █ ████ ██ █████████████████ ████████ █████ ██ ████████ ██ ███████████ ██████ ██████ ████ ██████ ██████████ ██████████ ███ ███████ ██████████ ██ ███ ██████
Summary
The author concludes that modern technology decreases the overall well-being of the people who use it.
Why does the author think this?
Because modern technology makes people dependent on it. This leads to a loss of self-sufficiency.
Notable Assumptions
The author assumes that a loss of self-sufficiency is something that decreases a person’s well-being.
The author assumes that modern technology does not increase well-being enough to offset the decreased well-being from a loss of self-sufficiency.
23.
Which one of the following ██ ██ ██████████ ████████ ██ ███ ███████████ █████████
a
Physical labor is █████████ ██ █ ██████████ █████
Not necessary, because the concept of a “fulfilling life” is irrelevant. The author believes modern technology diminishes well-being; the author doesn’t have to think that diminished well-being comes from lack of a fulfilling life.
b
Self-sufficiency contributes to █ ████████ ███████████
Necessary, because if this were not true — if self-sufficiency does NOT contribute to a person’s well-being — then we have no reason to think a loss of self-sufficiency would decrease one’s well-being. In order for losing self-sufficiency to make well-being go lower, it must be the case that having self-sufficiency will put one higher on the scale of well-being.
c
People are not ████ ██ ████ ████ ██████ ██ ████████ █████ ████ █████ ███ ███████████
Not necessary, because the concept of being “free” is irrelevant. The argument isn’t based on, nor does it try to establish, that people are “not free.” Being dependent on modern technology and losing self-sufficiency is not necessarily a situation in which someone is “not free.”
d
Anything causing a ████ ██ ██████ █████ ██ █████████████ ██████ ████ ████ ██ ███████████ ██ ████ █████
Not necessary, because the concept of something being “unjustifiable” is irrelevant. The author never argues that someting is or is not justified. The conclusion is purely a descriptive claim about the effect of modern technology.
e
Technology inherently limits ███ ██████████ ██ ███ ██████
Not necessary, because the argument concerns only “modern” technology. The author does not have to have any opinion about technology generally and what is inherent in it.