I. Have. Hit. A. Wall.

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• 2 Likes

  Alex Alum Member ⭐

  October 2017 edited October 2017 23929 karma

  Valid/Invalid argument forms are extremely useful to memorize. Technically you don't have to memorize them but it makes questions that require you to recognize valid arguments such as MBT/SA questions much easier/faster.

  Don't get discouraged though, man. They can be tricky to understand at first if you can only understand them in an abstract way. Revise JY's explanations using the bucket/list methods. That helped me to visualize the concepts behind the argument forms.
• 2 Likes

  vanessa fisher Alum Member

  October 2017 1084 karma

  Hey I understand the frustration, but as someone that has written the test now and studied for 10 months, all I can assure you is that it all starts to make sense the more you go through the curriculum. Some of it may seem irrelevant, but it will come together. You have to keep a bit of faith in the interim. The valid argument forms are very helpful later, but also don't get stuck on memorizing them right now because it may halt you. What I did was write down each of the valid and invalid argument forms in a little notebook, and would just revisit them once a day to remember what they were. As I went through the rest of the curriculum, what they were and why they were important started to make a lot more sense. Eventually it became second nature.

  So I'd just say, don't get stuck on them. Write them down in a notebook, keep them with you as things to refer to regularly, and just keep going through the curriculum.

  My 2 cents.
• 1 Like

  william.truong Free Trial Member

  October 2017 12 karma

  Personally, I feel like the issue isn't so much that you don't understand "Validity" and "Must be true" questions specifically. Rather, you've probably been over-working yourself. People don't just "lose it". You had the swagger, and you can still have it. At this point, what do you think is going to help more?

  1. You can either crash, keep digging your grave from negative thinking, and ultimately lose 100% of the swagger you've built (whereas realistically, right now, you've probably only lost 25-30% of it from overthinking).

  2. You can take the time to rest. Sleep in. Feel better. Get a workout (it clear the brains, I swear) Once you've done that, Get. It. Together.
     A lot of people get caught up in the moment, and crash from how they currently feel. They completely forget what they are studying for, and what their main goal is because they are absorbed by the LSAT.

  A great Law school is what has been motivating you all along. Everything you've done. Remember, and you'll find that motivation; but more importantly, that swagger.
• tringo335 Alum Member ⭐

  October 2017 3679 karma

  OH.MY.GOSH -- preaching to the choir sir.

  This was me not too long ago. My studies came to a screeching halt once I got to the Valid/Invalid sections I thought I was a complete idiot for not getting it. I spent three weeks ...THREE WEEKS alone on one section .. but guess what? I finally got it. Do not let your law school dreams go out the window because of one section that you can totally get. If I got it, anyone can. Take notes, ask questions, bug people on this forum for help (everyone is super helpful) and just keep going until you finally get it. And I promise you will. Unfortunately, the section you are on sucks right now, but once you get it you'll feel like a pro again.

  Mastery of this test goes to the ones who take it slow and don't skip steps. Take your time it will come.
• 5 Likes

  kshutes13 Member

  October 2017 edited October 2017 634 karma

  I feel you!! I felt the exact same way when I hit valid argument forms; I just finished them after throwing my notebook at a wall a few days ago and taking a good long mental break. I recently posted this on the valid arguments review in the CC, but I thought I would repost here in case it's useful:

  I categorized each valid argument form into 3 groups, based on patterns, to make it a bit easier to visualize in my head. I'm not sure how your brain works, but rather than just recalling all 9 forms, I find it much easier to break them into little subsections. Once I recall what "group" I'm looking at, then I can unpack it and recall all of them. With this method, I was able to memorize them in under an hour, rather than last week when I was blindly trying to memorize all 9 of them. Seeing a grouping pattern helps.

  Group 1: Valid Arguments 1 & 2 – deals with the simple A→B relationship:

  -A→B therefore #1 A|B or #2 /B|/A

  Group 2: Valid Arguments 3 to 5 – deals with different types of the A→B→C relationship: #3 A→B→C, #4 A←s→B→C, #5 A‑m→B→C

  -Each conclusion is ‘related’ to their respective argument form (all, some, most), such that #3 is A→C, #4 is A←s→C, and #5 is A‑m→C.

  Group 3: Valid Arguments 6 to 9 – deals with A being the common variable between B & C: #6 A→B & A→C, #7 A→B & A←s→C, #8 A→B & A‑m→C, #9 A‑m→B & A‑m→C

  -In each of these valid arguments, the conclusion must be B←s→C because both variables clearly have a connection to A which means they would AT LEAST overlap once (think definition of some & the list method) – and as such, we cannot conclude with words such as all (B→C) or most (B‑m→C) because we don’t know what characteristics B & C have outside of this argument/world.

  I hope that helps because it really helped me! Just remember I was in the same situation as you not too long ago and I told my parents that I've hit a wall & I can't go on anymore, but then I found a solution that makes me feel silly for even doubting myself! You got this
• Alex Alum Member ⭐

  October 2017 23929 karma

  @kshutes13 said:
  I feel you!! I felt the exact same way when I hit valid argument forms; I just finished them after throwing my notebook at a wall a few days ago and taking a good long mental break. I recently posted this on the valid arguments review in the CC, but I thought I would repost here in case it's useful:

  I categorized each valid argument form into 3 groups, based on patterns, to make it a bit easier to visualize in my head. I'm not sure how your brain works, but rather than just recalling all 9 forms, I find it much easier to break them into little subsections. Once I recall what "group" I'm looking at, then I can unpack it and recall all of them. With this method, I was able to memorize them in under an hour, rather than last week when I was blindly trying to memorize all 9 of them. Seeing a grouping pattern helps.

  Group 1: Valid Arguments 1 & 2 – deals with the simple A→B relationship:

  -A→B therefore #1 A|B or #2 /B|/A

  Group 2: Valid Arguments 3 to 5 – deals with different types of the A→B→C relationship: #3 A→B→C, #4 A←s→B→C, #5 A‑m→B→C

  -Each conclusion is ‘related’ to their respective argument form (all, some, most), such that #3 is A→C, #4 is A←s→C, and #5 is A‑m→C.

  Group 3: Valid Arguments 6 to 9 – deals with A being the common variable between B & C: #6 A→B & A→C, #7 A→B & A←s→C, #8 A→B & A‑m→C, #9 A‑m→B & A‑m→C

  -In each of these valid arguments, the conclusion must be B←s→C because both variables clearly have a connection to A which means they would AT LEAST overlap once (think definition of some & the list method) – and as such, we cannot conclude with words such as all (B→C) or most (B‑m→C) because we don’t know what characteristics B & C have outside of this argument/world.

  I hope that helps because it really helped me! Just remember I was in the same situation as you not too long ago and I told my parents that I've hit a wall & I can't go on anymore, but then I found a solution that makes me feel silly for even doubting myself! You got this

  Hey @kshutes13 ,

  I don't think I've seen you around the forum, so just wanted to say welcome

  I also really, really love your 3 groups method for memorizing the valid and invalid argument forms. I made notecards when I was learning them and sort of learned them by grouping them similarly. Great idea!

  Thank you for sharing
• 3 Likes

  kshutes13 Member

  October 2017 634 karma

  @"Alex Divine" said:

  @kshutes13 said:
  I feel you!! I felt the exact same way when I hit valid argument forms; I just finished them after throwing my notebook at a wall a few days ago and taking a good long mental break. I recently posted this on the valid arguments review in the CC, but I thought I would repost here in case it's useful:

  I categorized each valid argument form into 3 groups, based on patterns, to make it a bit easier to visualize in my head. I'm not sure how your brain works, but rather than just recalling all 9 forms, I find it much easier to break them into little subsections. Once I recall what "group" I'm looking at, then I can unpack it and recall all of them. With this method, I was able to memorize them in under an hour, rather than last week when I was blindly trying to memorize all 9 of them. Seeing a grouping pattern helps.

  Group 1: Valid Arguments 1 & 2 – deals with the simple A→B relationship:

  -A→B therefore #1 A|B or #2 /B|/A

  Group 2: Valid Arguments 3 to 5 – deals with different types of the A→B→C relationship: #3 A→B→C, #4 A←s→B→C, #5 A‑m→B→C

  -Each conclusion is ‘related’ to their respective argument form (all, some, most), such that #3 is A→C, #4 is A←s→C, and #5 is A‑m→C.

  Group 3: Valid Arguments 6 to 9 – deals with A being the common variable between B & C: #6 A→B & A→C, #7 A→B & A←s→C, #8 A→B & A‑m→C, #9 A‑m→B & A‑m→C

  -In each of these valid arguments, the conclusion must be B←s→C because both variables clearly have a connection to A which means they would AT LEAST overlap once (think definition of some & the list method) – and as such, we cannot conclude with words such as all (B→C) or most (B‑m→C) because we don’t know what characteristics B & C have outside of this argument/world.

  I hope that helps because it really helped me! Just remember I was in the same situation as you not too long ago and I told my parents that I've hit a wall & I can't go on anymore, but then I found a solution that makes me feel silly for even doubting myself! You got this

  Hey @kshutes13 ,

  I don't think I've seen you around the forum, so just wanted to say welcome

  I also really, really love your 3 groups method for memorizing the valid and invalid argument forms. I made notecards when I was learning them and sort of learned them by grouping them similarly. Great idea!

  Thank you for sharing

  Thank you for the warm welcome! I appreciate that someone else enjoys the grouping method and I'm happy I could share - I was so excited that I had come up with my own way that I went downstairs and showed my parents my new method (this is the story of my life during LSAT studies). Suffice to say neither of them cared lol but I hope others might!
• Lawster9 Alum Member

  September 2018 393 karma

  @kshutes13 said:
  I feel you!! I felt the exact same way when I hit valid argument forms; I just finished them after throwing my notebook at a wall a few days ago and taking a good long mental break. I recently posted this on the valid arguments review in the CC, but I thought I would repost here in case it's useful:

  I categorized each valid argument form into 3 groups, based on patterns, to make it a bit easier to visualize in my head. I'm not sure how your brain works, but rather than just recalling all 9 forms, I find it much easier to break them into little subsections. Once I recall what "group" I'm looking at, then I can unpack it and recall all of them. With this method, I was able to memorize them in under an hour, rather than last week when I was blindly trying to memorize all 9 of them. Seeing a grouping pattern helps.

  Group 1: Valid Arguments 1 & 2 – deals with the simple A→B relationship:

  -A→B therefore #1 A|B or #2 /B|/A

  Group 2: Valid Arguments 3 to 5 – deals with different types of the A→B→C relationship: #3 A→B→C, #4 A←s→B→C, #5 A‑m→B→C

  -Each conclusion is ‘related’ to their respective argument form (all, some, most), such that #3 is A→C, #4 is A←s→C, and #5 is A‑m→C.

  Group 3: Valid Arguments 6 to 9 – deals with A being the common variable between B & C: #6 A→B & A→C, #7 A→B & A←s→C, #8 A→B & A‑m→C, #9 A‑m→B & A‑m→C

  -In each of these valid arguments, the conclusion must be B←s→C because both variables clearly have a connection to A which means they would AT LEAST overlap once (think definition of some & the list method) – and as such, we cannot conclude with words such as all (B→C) or most (B‑m→C) because we don’t know what characteristics B & C have outside of this argument/world.

  I hope that helps because it really helped me! Just remember I was in the same situation as you not too long ago and I told my parents that I've hit a wall & I can't go on anymore, but then I found a solution that makes me feel silly for even doubting myself! You got this

  This is ducking brilliant.
• 1 Like

  ---JEh--- Alum Member

  September 2018 60 karma

  Also, go workout or something like that man. Don't underestimate the power of getting away from it all and moving around. Sounds simple, and it really is. For most, this material takes a bit of time to "sink in". Most people can't just blow through the material and crush it. I've found that studying for too long melts the brain.