#23 - The computer software industry is rapidly growing and has been for some

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

Flaw in the Reasoning. The correct answer choice is (A).

Answer choice (A): This is the correct answer choice.

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C):

Answer choice (D):

Answer choice (E):

This explanation is still in progress. Please post any questions below!

[npant120]

Hello,

I had a question on answer choice B as I noticed a lot of people selected this and I was also between A and B while taking the exam. Ultimately I chose A because I knew that it was a flaw of the argument whereas I was unsure of whether or not B occurred. What is confusing to me is that when looking at this problem, it seems that the conclusion is the necessary condition of the conditional chain created in the stimulus. Namely:
grow rapidly->innovative->creative employees or management open to new ideas.

The conclusion essentially is that the management must be open to new ideas but isn't it true that we cannot prove this? Unless we are assuming the sufficient condition of this is true? I'm not sure if my question makes sense but I guess I am just wondering what definitively makes B wrong, though I do understand that A is correct.

[Robert Carroll]

Nimisha,

Answer choice (B) describes a Mistaken Reversal. Now, as you point out, we have conditional reasoning in this stimulus, but the flaw isn't Mistaken Reversal. In fact, the flaw isn't conditional at all. The conclusion is the necessary condition of the conditional. That already means the flaw can't be conditional - conditionals allow us to prove the necessary is true (when the argument adduces the sufficient condition as a premise) or that the sufficient condition is false (when the argument adduces the negation of the necessary condition as a premise). So if the conclusion is the necessary, that means there is a way for this argument to work conditionally. If it still has a mistake, it can't be a conditional error. Since that's what answer choice (B) says it is, that answer is incorrect.

Instead, focus on what you said: "The conclusion essentially is that the management must be open to new ideas but isn't it true that we cannot prove this? Unless we are assuming the sufficient condition of this is true?" Indeed, the conclusion could have been proven if the sufficient condition had been established. So what's the sufficient condition? "A company grows rapidly" is. We don't know that about Logichut. We DO know that about the industry. So the author has made the leap from "the industry is growing rapidly and has been" to "Logichut is growing rapidly and has been". If that leap were allowed, the conditional would WORK. So the error is in the leap only. The leap is a whole-to-part error, making answer choice (A) correct.

Robert Carroll

[npant120]

Nimisha,

Answer choice (B) describes a Mistaken Reversal. Now, as you point out, we have conditional reasoning in this stimulus, but the flaw isn't Mistaken Reversal. In fact, the flaw isn't conditional at all. The conclusion is the necessary condition of the conditional. That already means the flaw can't be conditional - conditionals allow us to prove the necessary is true (when the argument adduces the sufficient condition as a premise) or that the sufficient condition is false (when the argument adduces the negation of the necessary condition as a premise). So if the conclusion is the necessary, that means there is a way for this argument to work conditionally. If it still has a mistake, it can't be a conditional error. Since that's what answer choice (B) says it is, that answer is incorrect.

Instead, focus on what you said: "The conclusion essentially is that the management must be open to new ideas but isn't it true that we cannot prove this? Unless we are assuming the sufficient condition of this is true?" Indeed, the conclusion could have been proven if the sufficient condition had been established. So what's the sufficient condition? "A company grows rapidly" is. We don't know that about Logichut. We DO know that about the industry. So the author has made the leap from "the industry is growing rapidly and has been" to "Logichut is growing rapidly and has been". If that leap were allowed, the conditional would WORK. So the error is in the leap only. The leap is a whole-to-part error, making answer choice (A) correct.

Robert Carroll

Thank you! This was very helpful

[carsecalono]

I think everyone might be approaching this wrong, The stimulus uses the word evidently which is VERY important. Implying that the company IS successful. The issue is not with its conditional logic but rather the principle itself. Thus making it a simple fallacy. One cannot presume that in order for a company to be successful it must abide by these 2 rules. A company could very well grow rapidly and not have those 2 conditions ie creative workers or a receptive management. That’s how I got there at least. Just because a set of thing “the companies” has those things doesn’t mean EACH member or “all” does in practice. If the company was just a random company like others suggest than of course the issue would be conditional in nature. This also explains why everyone is so confused with the wording of the answer choices. The first one is clearly stating its fallacious nature, A that is.