Deciding when an assumption is reasonable

ajfgorski

Hey everyone,

For question types such as Flawed Method (especially where the question is asking you to find what the argument is taking for granted) that often have multiple answer choices that contain assumptions, what are people's strategies in determining whether an assumption is reasonable or not?

Logician

Good question! In terms of the LSAT, the longer you study and the more you improve the better you'll get at determining what constitutes a "reasonable" assumption. In a sense it is a skill that you fine tune. With that said, there are also simple measures you can put in place to more often than not avoid unreasonable assumptions, such as being very strict with yourself when you're uncertain. i.e err on the side of caution (of course this is also easier said than done because, well, you don't know what you don't know). Another strategy you can employ is weighing assumptions against each other from different answer choices. For instance, lets say you've narrowed the answer choices down to 3 contenders, rather than trying to measure how reasonable a given assumption is in a vacuum, measure them against each other- and practice doing this not only timed but also untimed. Every time you pick the incorrect answer, make a note and contrast it to the correct one. How was A's assumption more reasonable than B's? this will become apparent a lot quicker when you really begin to dissect and analyze these things on a regular basis. The same thing goes for when you get an answer choice correct- contrast it to your second most attractive AC. There will always be a distinguishing factor between the correct and incorrect AC that will allow the LSAC to stand behind the correct answer-your goal is to find that justification.

good luck!

ajfgorski

@Logician said:
Good question! In terms of the LSAT, the longer you study and the more you improve the better you'll get at determining what constitutes a "reasonable" assumption. In a sense it is a skill that you fine tune. With that said, there are also simple measures you can put in place to more often than not avoid unreasonable assumptions, such as being very strict with yourself when you're uncertain. i.e err on the side of caution (of course this is also easier said than done because, well, you don't know what you don't know). Another strategy you can employ is weighing assumptions against each other from different answer choices. For instance, lets say you've narrowed the answer choices down to 3 contenders, rather than trying to measure how reasonable a given assumption is in a vacuum, measure them against each other- and practice doing this not only timed but also untimed. Every time you pick the incorrect answer, make a note and contrast it to the correct one. How was A's assumption more reasonable than B's? this will become apparent a lot quicker when you really begin to dissect and analyze these things on a regular basis. The same thing goes for when you get an answer choice correct- contrast it to your second most attractive AC. There will always be a distinguishing factor between the correct and incorrect AC that will allow the LSAC to stand behind the correct answer-your goal is to find that justification.

good luck!

Thank you for the advice!

Glutton for the LSAT

My succinct advice is that you should make an assumption only when all the other choices are wholly wrong. By wholly wrong, I mean that you cannot think of at least one possible world in which that answer choice is correct for the stimulus. PT28S3Q25 is a good example of a question that requires making a reasonable assumption. I suggest watching J.Y.'s video on this.