LR Question 13 Explanation
QUESTION TEXT: Studies have shown that, contrary to popular belief…
QUESTION TYPE: Paradox – Exception
FACTS: Studies show that middle aged people fear death more than the elderly.
ANALYSIS: There isn’t much to say here: it all depends on the answer choices. Think about death and old age for a minute then take a look at them.
___________
- The elderly have lived longer and have therefore come to accept death.
- This shows that middle aged people worry about how their dependents will support themselves if the middle aged person dies. So they have strong reason not to die.
- CORRECT. This doesn’t explain much. There’s no reason to believe that these middle-aged people will stop being depressed before they become elderly.
- Imperturbable means: someone who doesn’t get worried about much (including death.)
- This explains it. Apparently the elderly have forgotten they can die.
More Resources for Paradox Questions
- Intro Course lesson: This intro course lesson covers Paradox questions.
- Mastery Seminar lesson: This LR Mastery seminar lesson covers paradox questions.
Hello! First of all, I’d like to say I am one of hundreds of people who have been positively influenced by this website. Thanks so much!
I thought this to be a hard question and the choices B and C are both equally wrong/correct. By the same token as the logic used above, one can argue that having dependents does not necessarily instill a more grave fear of death for middle aged people.
Is there any other way by which we can say C is a better answer than B? Thanks again.
It’s great to hear you’ve benefited so much from Graeme’s explanations!
In this question, you’re looking to eliminate answers that contribute to an explanation of this phenomenon. It’s true that having dependents doesn’t necessarily instill a more grave fear of death for middle-aged people. But, if they do have more dependents than any other demographic, it’s not much of a stretch to say that might contribute to an explanation of the fear of death disparity since you’d want to keep supporting your dependants.
(C), on the other hand, really couldn’t account for this disparity at all since it tells us nothing about the difference between experiencing depression long-term versus when you first start to experience it. The answer choice gives us no basis on which we could say that depression is worse when you first experience it than when you’ve had it long-term.