I was rlly confused on why D was incorrect, so I asked Chat, IK I'm not supposed to... but it helped. Sometimes I just need to see an example of the wrong AC to understand why it does not work with question. Hope this helps someone!
ARGUMENT:
Arnot argues that making fundamental changes in government would virtually eliminate major social ills.But this conclusion is false. After all, Arnot’s argument depends on the dubious assumption that government can be trusted to act in the public interest.
What the argument would look like IF D (straw man) were correct
Arnot claims that if we give the government sweeping new powers, all social problems will immediately disappear and government officials will always act perfectly. This is obviously false, since governments are often corrupt and inefficient. Therefore, Arnot’s conclusion must be wrong.
Why THIS is straw man
Arnot is made to say something stronger and different than what he actually argued
“All social problems will immediately disappear”
“Government will always act perfectly”
Those exaggerations do not appear in Arnot’s real argument.
The speaker attacks that exaggerated version instead.
So to clarify is this a basic AOE flaw? the idea that you didn't prove your POV therefore mine is clearly correct? Also again (whenever I dont know the meaning of the word its ALWAYS the answer) not joking may be a legit test day thing if POE permits
I see some, "i got it right," as for me I did not understand at all. But of course after reviewing I still do not understand. (nah im joking), C and D both looked well to me, but of course I was way off.
can anyone explain if the newspaper subscriber's conclusion swapped to: "But there is at least one alternative hypothesis/explanation to Arnot's argument."
I got this right quickly but I think only because it followed right after the previous question. If I wasn't already looking for the same concept, I may have been flip-flopping with D, and unsure of when to take a charitable interpretation of an author's premise, and when it would be strawmanning. Here, it seems to me to be a reasonable weakness (it's true that it's an assumption), so it didn't seem "over the top" strawmanning.
I think for future, I would think, ok, even if the author DID strawman the argument a bit, that still leaves a major flaw of having not proven his own argument of NOT the case that [making govt changes --c--> eliminate social ills].
#feedback like other people, understand why A is the correct answer choice, but I don't agree with the answer explanation or why D is not correct. Arnot is saying what would happen if the government did a certain thing, not that it ever would or even if it were possible that it could. The subscriber then responds by saying that Arnot is wrong for making an assumption that the government would actually ever implement these changes, which Arnot never does. That is a distortion, is it not?
Bruh I hate it when my ADHD brain just refuses to read an answer in full and then I choose an answer I know is not right because I've eliminated an answer I haven't even read.
Realizing that the content of the dubious claim doesn't actually matter. We don't need to know what the author thinks is dubious, we just need to understand the fact that the author is rejecting Arnot's conclusion because of a purported weakening of a premise. If we ignore the content of the "dubious" claim (the government can be trusted to act in the public's interest) then it becomes more clear that the form of weakening another person's argument (by showing weakness in one of their points/premises) does not mean we cannot nonetheless accept their conclusion.
Oh wow, this one didn't feel that hard to me. I think it's because we just talked about this type of flaw in the previous lesson. I will remember this feeling of triumph when I inevitably get a 2 star question wrong though
Ok I understand why the correct answer is correct, but I answered D based on the idea that "making the government trustworthy of acting in the best interest of the public" could constitute a fundamental change of the sort that Arnot proposes.
After all, whether or not a government could be trusted to act in the best interests of the public is a quality of government which could fundamentally change, is it not? So in my view, the author distorts Arnots argument by ignoring that actually the trustworthiness of government cannot be one of the possible fundamental changes.
We don't get any details about what arnots proposed changes actually are, just that they would be fundamental.
So I read the authors argument as the government cannot change because it cannot change.
Am I totally off base here? Have I explained my thinking well enough?
honestly i just saw a word i wasn't comfortable with (repudiate) and immediately skipped the AC which i need to stop doing
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97 comments
getting a level 5 difficulty question right is like solving quantum physics
I was rlly confused on why D was incorrect, so I asked Chat, IK I'm not supposed to... but it helped. Sometimes I just need to see an example of the wrong AC to understand why it does not work with question. Hope this helps someone!
ARGUMENT:
Arnot argues that making fundamental changes in government would virtually eliminate major social ills.But this conclusion is false. After all, Arnot’s argument depends on the dubious assumption that government can be trusted to act in the public interest.
What the argument would look like IF D (straw man) were correct
Why THIS is straw man
Arnot is made to say something stronger and different than what he actually argued
“All social problems will immediately disappear”
“Government will always act perfectly”
Those exaggerations do not appear in Arnot’s real argument.
The speaker attacks that exaggerated version instead.
So to clarify is this a basic AOE flaw? the idea that you didn't prove your POV therefore mine is clearly correct? Also again (whenever I dont know the meaning of the word its ALWAYS the answer) not joking may be a legit test day thing if POE permits
I got it right in BR after I googled what "repudiate" meant.
I see some, "i got it right," as for me I did not understand at all. But of course after reviewing I still do not understand. (nah im joking), C and D both looked well to me, but of course I was way off.
CHAT I GOT IT RIGHTTTT and 36 SECONDS UNDER TIME.
Level 5, and I got it 9 seconds under the time. Chat, I fear I may not be cooked after all.
I only got this right because the lesson before this introduced the concept and I expected the question to reflect the lesson.
can anyone explain if the newspaper subscriber's conclusion swapped to: "But there is at least one alternative hypothesis/explanation to Arnot's argument."
Will that still be making (A) correct?
anyone have any tips for differentiating/identifying the different subgroup question types or is this just going to have to be memorization
like the part to whole - ad hominem - etc
I got this right quickly but I think only because it followed right after the previous question. If I wasn't already looking for the same concept, I may have been flip-flopping with D, and unsure of when to take a charitable interpretation of an author's premise, and when it would be strawmanning. Here, it seems to me to be a reasonable weakness (it's true that it's an assumption), so it didn't seem "over the top" strawmanning.
I think for future, I would think, ok, even if the author DID strawman the argument a bit, that still leaves a major flaw of having not proven his own argument of NOT the case that [making govt changes --c--> eliminate social ills].
RAHHHHHHHHHHHH THIS IS TOO EASY
finally got a level 5 difficulty question right and it felt easy this time AUGH thank the LSAT lords
had it right then switched my answer last second. oh my FUCKING GOD
#feedback like other people, understand why A is the correct answer choice, but I don't agree with the answer explanation or why D is not correct. Arnot is saying what would happen if the government did a certain thing, not that it ever would or even if it were possible that it could. The subscriber then responds by saying that Arnot is wrong for making an assumption that the government would actually ever implement these changes, which Arnot never does. That is a distortion, is it not?
Bruh I hate it when my ADHD brain just refuses to read an answer in full and then I choose an answer I know is not right because I've eliminated an answer I haven't even read.
I guessed and got lucky, lord is with me and now let me watch the explanation video ahahhaha
This took a second to get in Blind Review
idk how i got this right in the target time, every other answer choice just didnt make sense
Realizing that the content of the dubious claim doesn't actually matter. We don't need to know what the author thinks is dubious, we just need to understand the fact that the author is rejecting Arnot's conclusion because of a purported weakening of a premise. If we ignore the content of the "dubious" claim (the government can be trusted to act in the public's interest) then it becomes more clear that the form of weakening another person's argument (by showing weakness in one of their points/premises) does not mean we cannot nonetheless accept their conclusion.
Oh wow, this one didn't feel that hard to me. I think it's because we just talked about this type of flaw in the previous lesson. I will remember this feeling of triumph when I inevitably get a 2 star question wrong though
Ok I understand why the correct answer is correct, but I answered D based on the idea that "making the government trustworthy of acting in the best interest of the public" could constitute a fundamental change of the sort that Arnot proposes.
After all, whether or not a government could be trusted to act in the best interests of the public is a quality of government which could fundamentally change, is it not? So in my view, the author distorts Arnots argument by ignoring that actually the trustworthiness of government cannot be one of the possible fundamental changes.
We don't get any details about what arnots proposed changes actually are, just that they would be fundamental.
So I read the authors argument as the government cannot change because it cannot change.
Am I totally off base here? Have I explained my thinking well enough?
Got it right AND under the target time <3
#feedback!!! Someone please make more sense on why c is not the correct answer
honestly i just saw a word i wasn't comfortable with (repudiate) and immediately skipped the AC which i need to stop doing