LSAT 146 | Section 3 | Logical Reasoning: Q6

LR Question 6 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: The decisions that one makes can profoundly affect…

QUESTION TYPE: Principle – Justify

CONCLUSION: We shouldn’t regret opportunities we missed in youth.

REASONING: If our lives had gone differently, some of our personal relationships would not be there. And everyone likes their close personal relationships.

ANALYSIS: This is a silly argument. It ignores the close personal relationships we didn’t make. Taking the missed opportunities of youth might have resulted in even more close personal relationships.

But, we need to support this argument. The argument itself was: “The past led to things we like.” We basically have to say “if the past led to things we like, the past is good.”

___________

1. If we draw this statement with “no regret” as the conclusion, we get:
    
   No greater number of relationships ➞ No regret
    
   This doesn’t match the argument. The author’s point wasn’t about the total quantity of relationships. Their point was this: we should cherish the relationships we had. If we had taken different decisions, we might not have had some of our current relationships.
    
   So by the author’s logic, it’s not a sensible tradeoff to have gained five new close friends if it would have meant not making one of our current friendships.
2. CORRECT. This matches. We cherish our personal relationships. And missing opportunities in our youth indirectly led to the personal relationships we have now.
    
   Answer as diagram: Decision leads to thing we cherish ➞ no regret
3. This doesn’t match the argument. The missed opportunities of our youth might have had major impacts on our lives.
4. The argument was about whether we should regret. This answer is about what to cherish.
5. Same as D. This answer is about what to cherish, but the argument was about when to regret.