Sub-letters in conditional reasoning diagrams.

[PolskiCanuck]

Hello,

I have noticed that when making conditional reasoning diagrams, sometimes sub-letters are added to certain statements. I will post an example question from page 163 of the 2013 Powerscore Logical Reasoning Bible

A politician can neither be reelected nor avoid censure by his or her colleagues if that politician is known to be involved in any serious scandals. Several prominent politicians have just now been shown to be involved in a conspiracy that turned into a serious scandal. These politicians will therefore not be reelected.

The corresponding diagram:

SS = involved in any serious scandal
sub-P = politican
R = reelected
AC = avoid censure

R
SSP and
AC

I do not understand why this diagram uses a sub-letter, in this instance sub-P, while many other do not. What is the purpose of the sub-letter in this particular diagram?

So when/how do I use these sub-letters?

Thanks.

[David Boyle]

Hello,

I have noticed that when making conditional reasoning diagrams, sometimes sub-letters are added to certain statements. I will post an example question from page 163 of the 2013 Powerscore Logical Reasoning Bible

A politician can neither be reelected nor avoid censure by his or her colleagues if that politician is known to be involved in any serious scandals. Several prominent politicians have just now been shown to be involved in a conspiracy that turned into a serious scandal. These politicians will therefore not be reelected.

The corresponding diagram:

SS = involved in any serious scandal
sub-P = politican
R = reelected
AC = avoid censure

R
SSP and
AC

I do not understand why this diagram uses a sub-letter, in this instance sub-P, while many other do not. What is the purpose of the sub-letter in this particular diagram?

So when/how do I use these sub-letters?

Thanks.

Hello PolskiCanuck,

Use of subscripts is optional, but it can come in handy. For example, if there is an advanced linear game, with a rule, "Rivers receives a better ranking in creativity than in management", then it might be good to do something like Rc----Rm.
In this particular problem, they are trying to communicate that the politician is one of the set of people who committed serious scandals. Arguably, you could have P as the main thing, and SS as the subscript. But either way, you get to see two things at once, i.e., politician, and serious scandal.

Hope this helps,
David