LSAT 114 | Section 4 | Logical Reasoning: Q18

LR Question 18 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: The statement “thinking machines closely modeled on…

QUESTION TYPE: Role in Argument

CONCLUSION: Yang concludes that researchers should focus on the function of the brain rather than the structure.

REASONING: Yang claims that focusing on the structure will lead to failure. Flying machines modeled after birds all failed.

ANALYSIS: Subsidiary conclusions are fairly rare, and not well understood. It means a conclusion that is supported by evidence and supports the main conclusion. For example:

A ➞ B ➞ C

A is the evidence. It lets us conclude B, a subsidiary conclusion. B leads to C, the main conclusion.

___________

1. The main conclusion is that researchers should focus on the function of the brain, because focusing on the structure will lead to failure.
2. CORRECT. It is supported by the analogy about early flight machines and it supports the idea that we shouldn’t focus on the structure. 
3. It is not a principle of research. We don’t know how many people agree with Yang. 
4. This is true of the example about birds. But the statement about the brain structure is not a general claim. 
5. Yang hasn’t given us any context about the brain.