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Causation/Weakening and Strengthening Help

paulchristianpaulchristian Alum Member
in General 14 karma
I find myself having a very hard time understanding the causation strategy and i had a few questions about its use. first off, is this strategy for strengthening and weakening questions only or is it useful for other question types throughout the test? I do very well on the strengthening and weakening questions without the causation strategy and i find myself both struggling with the strategy and taking much longer than i would if i didnt use the method. Im basically unsure if i need to use this strategy for these types of questions but i need to know if they are useful in other parts of the test as well Thanks
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  • runiggyrunruniggyrun Alum Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐
    2481 karma
    Causation can appear in pretty much any of the "flaw" family questions, so in addition to strengthen and weaken you can have a causal relationship for NA, SA, and PSA questions, as well as the PF (parallel flaw) questions.
    Bear in mind that not all of the questions in these categories are going to involve causal relationships, so you can't use the causation strategies if the question doesn't talk about a cause - effect relationship. Could that be a problem? Trying to apply the causation strategy when it's not needed/warranted?
  • Q.E.DQ.E.D Alum Member
    556 karma
    I think once you understand causal inference in science, you'll nail everything related to causation on the LSAT. It should only take you a week to read and absorb Nagel and Cohen's Introduction to Logic and the Scientific Method, which covers causation in reasonable depth. It should also strengthen your logical reasoning and reading comprehension. Just an unconventional recommendation for you.
  • Derek Kunhee KimDerek Kunhee Kim Member
    edited February 2016 131 karma
    I would advise you to avoid seeing causation logic as relevant "only" for strengthening and weakening question types. One of the aspects of 7sage (as well as the LSAT Trainer) that sets it apart from other prep companies is that it emphasizes how all LR questions are fundamentally testing the same concepts just in a slightly different light.

    Have you seen this lesson yet at the end of the Point at Issue lessons?

    Keep telling yourself that there are four irrelevant ACs and one relevant correct AC. The litmus test will be whether the AC gets "in-between" the premise and the conclusion of the argument.
  • MrSamIamMrSamIam Inactive ⭐
    2086 karma
    What do you mean by the "causation method?" I don't recall J.Y. explicitly referring to a causation method. However, if you mean finding an alternative cause to weaken a C&E relationship, then yes, that will be applicable to weakening (and probably a few flaw) questions. Getting rid of alternative causes will be applicable to strengthening and a few method of reasoning questions.

    Although I do love how 7Sage divides the different questions by type, I prefer to approach LR by reminding myself to simply follow the directions stated in the question stem. It's as simple as that.
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