PT49.S4.Q16 - Extremely confused about when a statement is a conditional statement.

xuzuqiao

I am confused about the logic translations seen in the video explanation for a particular LR question:
LSAT PrepTest 49, Section 4, Question 16
Link: https://7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-49-section-4-question-16/

There are two statements in this question where I don’t agree with the video explanation’s interpretation.

1) “Since the most realistic pieces are the most truthful”
The video explanation translates this statement as Most Real = Most Truthful. Why are the two concepts equivalent instead of existing in a conditional relationship? When I did this question, I diagrammed the relationship as Most Real → Most Truthful. We CANNOT say that “the most truthful pieces are the most realistic” given the above statement, correct?

2) “The most realistic pieces of art would be the best”
Again, the explanation diagrams this statement as Most Real = Best. It is my impression that from this statement, we CANNOT say “The best art is the most realistic.” Why is the equal sign used in the diagram, instead of a conditional arrow?

If someone can let me know why = signs are used rather than conditional arrows, I’d greatly appreciate the help.

If Glory then Guts

Hey dz, I think your intuitions as they stand may be what's causing your confusion here. You can definitely represent these types of statements conditionally, but they should be represented as bi-conditionals. E.g. Most Real <---> Most Truthful. This then means the same thing as Most Real = Most Truthful. The reason why it's a bi-conditional rather than the way you mapped it above is probably best illustrated through a visual example, but I can try give you a written one. Let's pretend that there are only 10 pieces of art in the whole world. Let's say that pieces #9 and #10 are the most realistic of the bunch. Now that would mean that #9 and #10 are also the most truthful, right? So that means that #9 and #10 both share the same 'highest' qualities of realism and truth. That is to say, no other painting can be either more truthful or more realistic than those two. Then, hopefully you can see that any piece that is the most truthful is in fact the most realistic and likewise any piece that is the most realistic is the most truthful. Or you can use the equal sign to say the same thing. Hopefully that clears it up a bit for you.

ryan.lattavo

Hi dzxu,

The equal sign, as someone pointed out earlier, acts as a biconditional.

If Most Realistic —> Most Truthful

And

If Most Trustful —-> Most Realistic

If Superman is Clark Kent, then we’ve got:

If Superman —-> Clark Kent

If Clark Kent —-> Superman

Same sort of relationship you’re pointing out.

You CAN use conditional arrows, but you’re only mapping out half the logical relationship. Equal signs are a more intuitively way to teach these as well.

Best,

Ryan