PT38.S1.Q06 - Every year, new reports appear concerning the health

rogersalexandra7

Im having trouble understanding why answer choice E is correct. I chose answer choice D because the conclusion has to do with the experts being useless because they offered contradictory information. I thought that when were looking at reasoning method questions were supposed to look at the conclusion and see how it is flawed. Here is my reasoning for the other ones to be incorrect:
a) This isn’t the correct answer because its not talking about the argument
b) This is also incorrect because it has nothing to do with the argument
c) Why would we consider other opinions outside of health when were talking about health related issues
d) This is correct because Ive eliminated every other answer and also because they’re assuming that just because the expert opinions are trustworthy in one case that they have to be trustworthy in all cases
e) This is incorrect because the argument doesn’t have anything to with whether or not the coffee is good for you but rather the experts are useless
TYA!!
https://7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-38-section-1-question-06/

Sami

If I say that taking practice test for LSAT helps you prepare for LSAT. But I also tell you that taking practice test can also be detrimental to your LSAT prep. Would you say my advice is useless?

Probably. lol But what if I add taking practice test is helpful when you have done the core-curriculum and its detrimental when you havn't finished it. Now my advice is not looking contradictory. So one thing "taking PT" can in some instances be helpful and in others be harmful but it doesn't mean its contradictory.

Similarly,
Coffee can be dangerous to health and also have "some benefits". But doesn't mean that these facts are useless about making a decision about one's health. Just like the facts above are still helpful in deciding when to take PT's even though they lead to contradictory conclusions. That's what answer choice "E" is getting at. It's okay to have contradictory conclusions as long as we are aware in what respect it leads them to have contradictory conclusions.

I think it's the same with a lot of prescribed medications. They are good for health when you need them but can be harmful and bad for you if you do it for "other" reasons.

I hoped the two examples above helped you see why answer choice E is correct. In our first example about LSAT PT had I concluded the advice is useless I would have failed to consider that taking PT's in some ways can be beneficial and in other ways be harmful. Similarly with this stimulus our speaker when he concluded the experts are useless he failed to consider that coffee despite being bad for health can still have some good qualities.

Now lets consider why answer choice "D" is wrong.

In our stimulus we had two contradictory expert opinion about coffee and because they were contradictory he concluded that they are useless. So its the contradiction that matters. Even if I am charitable to this answer choice and say that our speaker considers both opinions trustworthy, I can't say that's the flaw that occurs in this stimulus.

For this answer choice to be true my stimulus would have to look something like this:
This article from a reputable health expert states that coffee is bad for health and in another article the expert concludes that African water crisis can be alleviated by digging wells. Therefore we should dig wells in Africa to help with their water problems.
I went from saying expert opinion is trustworthy in one case to saying trust worthy in another case. My conclusion relied upon the expert being trustworthy in one case because if he wasn't I really don't have any other reason to believe why digging wells is a good solution for the water crisis in Africa.

But in question #6 the problem is that of contradiction between two premises which the conclusion relies upon to support it by saying that its useless because its contradictory. Not that its useless because its trustworthy. Answer choice D fails to accurately describe the flaw occurring in question #6.

rogersalexandra7

oh ok thank you!!!!