I think the difficulty ratings on these questions is really subjective. I missed every previous SA question on timed then got it right on BR,. This one I just intuitively knew almost right away, but the explanation confused me.
For anyone struggling, put very simply, I chose the right answer because it was the missing link than mentioned both communication and a spacecraft. I went hunting for the argument's "glue," and the right answer had it.
Hang with me folks, I think I figured it out (writing it out has helped me when looking at the question):
Conclusion: we will not be able to determine if there are sentient beings on planets outside our solar system anytime in the near futureUNLESSsome of these beings are at least as intelligent as humans.
---> Why is that?: Because we will not be able to send spacecraft in near future + any sentient capable of communicating would have to be as intelligent as us.
B, C and E do not prove why we won't be able to determine if there are sentient beings on plants outside our solar system (unless said beings are as intelligent), which is what the conclusion is.
"B": "any beings as intelligent as humans" --> stimulus doesn't say what they would want to do (i.e. communicate with sentient beings outside their own solar systems)
"C": the fact that we won't be able to send a spacecraft to other planets isn't contingent on whether there are sentient beings living there.
"E": the conclusion states that unless SOME of the other sentient beings is as intelligent as humans, and the premise says that ANY sentient capable of communicating is as intelligent as us. But whether these two categories overlap (as intelligent and capable of communicating) are not proving to us why we won't be able to determine whether they exist.
"A": the fact that we won't be able to determine it in the near future doesn't mean that there are no sentient beings in planets other than Earth.
Now, looking at "D" --> "Any sentient capable of communicating would have to be as intelligent as us." --> Ooooh-kay, so if they communicate with us, they are as intelligent as us (Communicate --> As intelligent; contrapositive: /As intelligent --> /Can't communicate). So if they can't communicate, this doesn't mean that they don't exist or aren't as intelligent (just because you have /Can't communicate doesn't mean that they're absent or that, if they're there, they are /As intelligent). But the only way for us to know whether they exist, based on the stimulus, in that case, is to send a spacecraft(which we know we won't be able to do, but based on the description, that's the only way to verify whether those beings exist).
I had to write out the premises and conclusion, then slot each answer choice one by one to see if it would support the conclusion until I found D. Took me 10 minutes but I finally got it.
Premises
If you are sentient AND can communicate with us, you are at least as intelligent as us
If a sentient being on another planet (outside the solar system) cannot communicate with us, the only way to detect its existence is by sending a spacecraft to its planet (Answer Choice D)
We can't send spacecraft outside our solar system
Conclusion
We can't determine if there are sentient beings outside our solar system unless they are as intelligent as us
Notice that Premise 1 uses "and". It doesn't apply if you don't meet both criteria.
Then, answer choice B then tells us what happens when you meet only one criteria, in this case being sentient. Premise 3 then says that the condition in B isn't not met aka we can't trigger B.
That is why I underlined the part I did in the conclusion. Premise 2 and 3 work together to remove all the other options we have.
Premise 1 tells us the only option we have is if they are sentient and can communicate, then they are as intelligent. Which means that if they aren't as intelligent, they don't meet the criteria for Premise 1, aka, we cannot determine anything.
But if they were as intelligent, sentient and could communicate, then we might be able to determine their existence.
That is why the conclusion avoided the might, and chose to negate the necessary condition, which is being as intelligent as us.
On a side note, this question has the lowest pass rate of any question I've seen on the LSAT. Only 42%? the average score for 50% of people that got it was 167? Damn.
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295 comments
I think the difficulty ratings on these questions is really subjective. I missed every previous SA question on timed then got it right on BR,. This one I just intuitively knew almost right away, but the explanation confused me.
For anyone struggling, put very simply, I chose the right answer because it was the missing link than mentioned both communication and a spacecraft. I went hunting for the argument's "glue," and the right answer had it.
aren't these questions just the bee's knees..
Nah bc how did this one make sense to me but the other's didn't
To get the question right and then to not understand the explanation is a new level of pain lol
got it right in normal and wrong in BR lol
@EmeryBeals you dont have to BR if you got it right ?
@ogreen26 yes, but if you do BR and get it wrong after getting it right normally then from what I understand you don't truly make sense of the logic.
Thought i was doing good and finally getting it but this one made me doubt myself
this section is making me crash out!
I am very close to the point of giving up. I am so frustrated these still make no sense to me
@JonathanKennedy22 You are not alone!
Hang with me folks, I think I figured it out (writing it out has helped me when looking at the question):
Conclusion: we will not be able to determine if there are sentient beings on planets outside our solar system anytime in the near future UNLESS some of these beings are at least as intelligent as humans.
---> Why is that?: Because we will not be able to send spacecraft in near future + any sentient capable of communicating would have to be as intelligent as us.
B, C and E do not prove why we won't be able to determine if there are sentient beings on plants outside our solar system (unless said beings are as intelligent), which is what the conclusion is.
"B": "any beings as intelligent as humans" --> stimulus doesn't say what they would want to do (i.e. communicate with sentient beings outside their own solar systems)
"C": the fact that we won't be able to send a spacecraft to other planets isn't contingent on whether there are sentient beings living there.
"E": the conclusion states that unless SOME of the other sentient beings is as intelligent as humans, and the premise says that ANY sentient capable of communicating is as intelligent as us. But whether these two categories overlap (as intelligent and capable of communicating) are not proving to us why we won't be able to determine whether they exist.
"A": the fact that we won't be able to determine it in the near future doesn't mean that there are no sentient beings in planets other than Earth.
@Oasis323 ur a god send thank you
this one was like actually pretty easy for me after getting 2 of the previous ones wrong
I had to write out the premises and conclusion, then slot each answer choice one by one to see if it would support the conclusion until I found D. Took me 10 minutes but I finally got it.
Premises
If you are sentient AND can communicate with us, you are at least as intelligent as us
If a sentient being on another planet (outside the solar system) cannot communicate with us, the only way to detect its existence is by sending a spacecraft to its planet (Answer Choice D)
We can't send spacecraft outside our solar system
Conclusion
We can't determine if there are sentient beings outside our solar system unless they are as intelligent as us
Notice that Premise 1 uses "and". It doesn't apply if you don't meet both criteria.
Then, answer choice B then tells us what happens when you meet only one criteria, in this case being sentient. Premise 3 then says that the condition in B isn't not met aka we can't trigger B.
That is why I underlined the part I did in the conclusion. Premise 2 and 3 work together to remove all the other options we have.
Premise 1 tells us the only option we have is if they are sentient and can communicate, then they are as intelligent. Which means that if they aren't as intelligent, they don't meet the criteria for Premise 1, aka, we cannot determine anything.
But if they were as intelligent, sentient and could communicate, then we might be able to determine their existence.
That is why the conclusion avoided the might, and chose to negate the necessary condition, which is being as intelligent as us.
On a side note, this question has the lowest pass rate of any question I've seen on the LSAT. Only 42%? the average score for 50% of people that got it was 167? Damn.
But hey, we know it now, so we'll be good right?
I struggled between D and E. Picked E and did not realize how far off I was until I watched the review. Yikes...
i chose the right answer only cuz the other answer choices did not make any sense tbh
Why did this question seem extremely easy? Am I missing something?
@CortlandStertzbach i was not expecting it to be 5 star. I thought it was difficult but relatively intuitive compared to the last one.
WHY throw back to back curveballs as if I wasn't already struggling with this section
I feel like crying
@breezyprabahar944 I feel like dying
but how do you know that we only have two options?? (spacecraft or alien intelligence) what if there is another way??
@ktacklesthelsat I think that's the point
this question fucking sucks
faerheafewageatheagfSgasdr
I see it was hard for others, questions like these are a bootcamp in itself. Yeesh.
im gonna tweak fr
I had D then chickened out at the last second for no reason ugh!! need to be confident in my answers
i'm about to crash out
I swear to god