PT70.S4.Q21 - Most books of fiction we have...

Comments

• Lime Green Dot Member ⭐

  May 2021 1384 karma

  "if a manuscript is unrequested, does that mean it is either a fiction book that was from a literary agent or a nonfiction book from a renown figure?"

  Yes! If we add in a few more qualifiers:

  (1) "if a fiction manuscript is unrequested + published → from a literary agent"

  or else

  (2) "if a nonfiction manuscript is unrequested + given serious attention/published → from a renowned figure"

  --

  I think the key phrasing in (A) we should pay attention to is "unrequested [and]... that the PH receives..." That's a potentially very big world we don't get a lot of clear information about to make such a bold statement that (A) is attempting to do.

  What we don't know is how
  [# of fiction man. + unrequested + PH gets] stacks up against
  [# of nonfiction man. + unrequested + PH gets]

  Further, we have no knowledge of the # of NF man. from famous figures (after all, couldn't this fall under the 'unrequested' but rec'd category, too?) compared with the # of NF man. rec'd that weren't requested (thus not given serious attention).

  Thus we can't derive any MBT statements, let alone a proper inference, stemming from what happens to most of the unrequested man. the PH gets overall.

  Too much is left unsaid, even assuming that we have only the dichotomy of pure fiction vs. pure nonfiction to think about.

  Let me know if any of this doesn't make sense!
• Ashley2018-1 Alum Member

  May 2021 2249 karma

  Ok...so from the statements we have, we cannot deduce the number of books in any of the categories? (Fiction manuscripts submitted by Literary agent, Fiction manuscripts requested directly from writers, etc)
• Lime Green Dot Member ⭐

  May 2021 edited May 2021 1384 karma

  Yup!

  So assuming all manuscripts the PH receives are either fiction or nonfiction books, under the restrictions of (A), we have "unrequested manuscripts + that PH receives -m--> not given serious attn."

  We have 4 possible scenarios per the STIM that could meet these initial conditions and could produce from the result of "not given serious attention".

  (1) Fiction, submitted by LA, unrequested
  (2) Fiction, submitted directly from FW, unrequested
  (3) Nonfiction, from renowned figure, unrequested
  (4) Nonfiction, from renowned figure, unrequested

  The problem, as you pointed out, is that we don't know the overall numbers about any of these 4 worlds, let alone combined (which is what we'd need ultimately), to qualify under "unrequested manuscripts + that PH receives -m-->".

  In other words, we're already like ¯\ (ツ)/¯ for the sufficient conditions, right? So how could we possibly draw any valid inferences from these unknowns to a conclusion about "not given serious attention"?

  We also simply have no way of knowing this outcome for F books at all, since "not given serious attention" was only ever mentioned as a consequence for certain categories of NF books. That's the other major hurdle (A) just has not cleared.

  Bearing in mind again, we are looking for the all-restrictive MBT, not a CBT, (A) once again is possible but not an absolute statement of truth from what we know.

  What do you think?
• Ashley2018-1 Alum Member

  May 2021 2249 karma

  Aren't fiction and nonfiction the only two categories of books?
• Lime Green Dot Member ⭐

  May 2021 edited May 2021 1384 karma

  Yep, as mentioned, we're assuming so in this case. But it's getting into the nitty-gritty b/c things may not always align themselves neatly in one genre or the other in the real world. I think this straying from the point at issue though.
• Ashley2018-1 Alum Member

  August 2021 2249 karma

  Reviving this thread...so your explanation is great, but I just don't think I would realistically be thinking through each choice as detailed as you did so what was your thought process as you eliminated A-D?