LSAT 144 | Section 1 | Reading Comprehension: Q23

RC Question 23 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: In saying that Popper gives a certain idea…

DISCUSSION: If you read around line 7, it’s clear the author is saying that Popper gives the idea of negative evidence wide application. In the rest of the passage, the author then disagrees with Popper’s wide-ranging application.

Hyperbolic is like hyperbole, and hyperbole means exaggeration. So the author thinks that Popper exaggerates his case for negative evidence.

___________

1. Which cases? Negative evidence applies to all cases where we make hypotheses. The author said that negative evidence wasn’t always conclusive, but it was definitely always relevant.
2. Hardly. Popper goes to the extreme and thinks that negative evidence is “at the heart of scientific research” (lines 11-12).
3. The author does think Popper committed a fallacy (i.e. Negative evidence doesn’t necessarily invalidate a theory), but this question is about why the author said hyperbolic.
   So this answer is true in the passage, but it doesn’t answer the question asked. Hyperbolic is exaggeration, not necessarily a fallacy. I.e. If I say “New York City is soooooooo big. Why, it’s the biggest city in the world!”. That’s a mistake, but it’s not a logical fallacy. Fallacy involves a bad argument form, not just an error of fact.
4. CORRECT. The author thinks that there is an asymmetry between positive and negative evidence. See lines 1-6, “this asymmetry” indicates the author agrees the asymmetry exists.
   However, Popper’s conclusions are too radical. A single negative result might not invalidate a theory – instead, it might invalidate an auxiliary assumption.
5. Passage A doesn’t mention any particular theories apart from Popper’s. This can’t be right.