#20 - One should not play a practical joke on someone

[mankariousc]

That makes a lot more sense! Thank you!

[akanshalsat]

I Dont understand why D is wrong if for the reasoning for D it says "harm ANYONE" but that was deemed wrong, however even in C, it says "even though it would not show contempt for ANYONE". What then is the difference? I chose C, but reading the explanations, I'm confused as to why C is explained as correct if it contains similar items as D for which D is said to be wrong

[James Finch]

Hi Akansha,

This is a clear conditional reasoning problem, which means that diagramming is almost always necessary; as a parallel reasoning question, this is even more true. So first off, the reasoning in the stimulus is:

Show Contempt For OR Believe Significant Harm Practical Joke

and the contrapostive:

Practical Joke Contempt for AND Believe Significant Harm

So the correct answer will either parallel the initial diagram or its contrapositive.

Answer choice (C) parallels the initial diagram, as it diagrams out to:

Believe Significant Harm Practical Joke

Answer choice (D), however, doesn't work because it diagrams out to:

Believe Shows Contempt For Practical Joke

The critical difference being the belief versus a statement of actual fact. The intent requirement only exists on the Causing Significant Harm condition, not the Contempt one; it is immaterial whether the practical joker believes the joke shows contempt for the target, only that the joke actually shows that contempt.

Hope this helps!

[lemonade42]

Hello,
Isn't it possible that "someone" can include that person the joke was played on? Which means the conditional rule would apply?
Are those answers wrong because it's uncertain that the someone really is the person the joke was played on, or is it because of the wording that requires specifically that it is the person the joke is being played on.
I've seen other questions that show something "falling under an umbrella term", so I was a bit confused here.

[Dana D]

Hey lemonade,

"Someone" in the stimulus is talking about the person the joke is being played on. Written another way, it says:

Tommy should not play a practical joke on Bob if the joke shows contempt for Bob or if Tommy believes the joke might bring significant harm to Bob.

Anytime a joke is going to show contempt for or bring significant harm to the person the joke is being played on, it shouldn't be played.

So, answer choice (D) for example, would be incorrect because it's talking about a joke that was going to be played on you, but saying it would not harm anyone but could show contempt for someone (not necessarily you).

Answer choice (C) would be correct, in contrast, because it says the joke should not be played on you because it would bring you significant harm, and the stimulus told us anytime the butt of the joke might face significant harm, we shouldn't play the joke.

"Anyone" here means any single person, including the butt of the joke, whereas someone is just one other person - maybe that's the person the joke is being played on, or maybe it is a random other person. If I say something shows no contempt for anyone and no harm will come to anyone, that means there is no singular person [including the person I'm making the joke about] that would be shown contempt or harm.


Does that answer the question?