LSAT 34, Logical Reasoning II, Q23, LSATHacks

QUESTION TEXT: Societies in which value is measured primarily…

QUESTION TYPE: Flawed Parallel Reasoning

CONCLUSION: Non-industrial societies must tend to be unified.

REASONING: When societies use money to measure value, they fragment into isolated social units. But non-industrial societies do not use money as the main measure of value.

ANALYSIS: This is an incorrect negation. The premise is “money ➞ fragment” 

We can’t conclude that not using money leads to not fragmenting. There could be many different reasons why a society might fragment. The right answer will have an incorrect negation.

___________

1. This is a good argument. The argument isn’t saying that jackals and wolves can interbreed. It just points out that the premise by itself doesn’t prove that they can’t. 
2. This makes the mistake of assuming that what must be true on average must be true of every individual. Places further north tend to have fewer species. But exceptions are possible and Siberia might have more species than the desert does. But this isn’t an incorrect negation. 
3. This argument saves itself by saying “probably.” It’s still not good because it provides no evidence that arthropods are all like insects. But it isn’t a terrible argument. 
4. CORRECT. Poets ➞ metaphors is the premise. The conclusion is an incorrect negation. There could be people apart from poets who use metaphors (such as journalists.) 
5. This is a bad argument because it confuses what tends to be true with what is always true. A pencil might be more troublesome than a computer. But there is no incorrect negation. 

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