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What is a Sufficient Condition?
What is a necessary condition?
how do I know which is which in context?
2
What is a Sufficient Condition?
What is a necessary condition?
how do I know which is which in context?
3 comments
Another way to think of "sufficient" is "sufficient to guarantee". Being J.Y. is sufficient to guarantee that you work at 7sage. Working at 7sage is not sufficient to guarantee that you are J.Y. (you could be one of the other staffers).
My tutor told me that you can identify a sufficient condition question if the question stem has the word "if" and "assumed." Such as the following:
• “Which one of the following, if assumed, allows the argument to be properly drawn?”
• “The conclusion follows logically if which one of the following is assumed?”
• “Which one of the following, if assumed, would be sufficient in drawing the conclusion above?”
• Which one of the following, if assumed, most strongly justifies the argument?”
Being a cat is sufficient (it satisfies the requirement) of being a mammal.
If you're a cat, it's necessary (it's inevitable) that you are also a mammal.
Try flipping the ideas (taking the contrapositive) to see if it still makes sense. If it doesn't, you probably mixed them up.
Does being a cat make you a mammal?
Yes. All cats mammals.
Does being a mammal make you a cat?
No. You could be a cat, however, being a mammal does not necessarily mean you are definitely cat. Cats are just one of many potential mammals you could be.
Say you have an apple. Does that mean you have a fruit?
Yes.
But does having a fruit mean that you definitely have an apple?
No. If you have a fruit, you could have an apple, but having a fruit does not necessarily mean you definitely have an apple. Apples are just one of many potential fruits you could have.
Having an apple is sufficient (it satisfies the requirement) of having a fruit (if you have an apple, it's inevitable that you have a fruit, so fruit is the necessary condition).
However, having a fruit does not satisfy the requirement of having an apple.
Hope that helps. Did you go through the core curriculum segments on this? Learning "lawgic" and how to take the contrapositive of statements like this can be super helpful!