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All 40 of John's friends know someone who has smoked 40 cigs for 40 years who is also very fit and well and John does NOT know anyone like this, yet he knows he is NOT unique. The correct answer is E, some of John's friends are not telling the truth. However, if John is NOT unique, wouldn't that mean that the majority of his friends also do not know someone who has smoked 40 cigs for 40 years who is also very fit and well. Since he is NOT unique, wouldn't that entail that he is not a rarity among the group that does not know someone like this? And the majority do not as well, since he is not a unique case. What am I missing here? Am I overthinking or putting too much importance on the word choice of "unique"?
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I think you're misinterpreting the meaning of "not unique." When it says that John "is not unique" among his friends, this is only implying that there is at least ONE other person among John's friends who share the same characteristic. "At least one" definitely falls within the category of "some," but it doesn't always imply "most." That's why (D) is wrong. (D) might be true, but because this is a MBT question, we have to go with (E), which 100% must be true.
The best way I am able to understand why the correct answer is E, some of John's friends are not telling the truth is that "some" being the quantifier, is intersecting with "all" of John's friends- John not knowing someone which his friends claim to know, is intersecting with the "all" group. But still, would it not be an assumption in this case? Could someone explain this to me?