QUESTION TEXT: Only computer scientists understand the architecture…
QUESTION TYPE: Flawed Reasoning
CONCLUSION: You can’t be a computer scientist unless you appreciate the advances in technology.
REASONING: Only computer scientists appreciate the advances in technology, because only they understand the architecture of computers.
ANALYSIS: This is useful to diagram, because the argument gets things backwards. The argument shows:
Appreciate Advances ➞ Understand Architecture ➞ Computer Scientist
But the conclusion says:
Computer Scientist ➞ Appreciate Advances’
This is no good. There could be some computer scientists who hate the advances in computer technology. Being a computer scientist was a necessary condition for appreciating the advances, not a sufficient condition.
___________
- There’s a pretty clear relationship: being a computer scientist is a necessary condition for understanding the advances. The problem is that the conclusion treats being a computer scientist as a sufficient condition.
- CORRECT. This is quite possible, since being a computer scientist was only a necessary condition for appreciating the advances.
- The argument didn’t say that computer scientists liked nothing else besides advancing technology.
- This isn’t true. We can draw a logical conclusion: if you appreciate the advances in technology, you’re a computer scientist.
- Not at all. The premises say you only understand the architecture of computers if you’re a computer scientist.
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