#17 - The question whether intelligent life exists elsewhere

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

Cannot Be True. The correct answer choice is (C)

The stimulus argues that we cannot just decide to define “intelligent life” more precisely since we must leave our definitions open to new possibilities if we are to find and recognize intelligent life elsewhere.

Answer choice (A): The stimulus does not directly object to the claim that the question whether intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe will never be correctly answered. It merely argues that we cannot just define “intelligent life” more precisely if we want to find and recognize intelligent life elsewhere.

Answer choice (B): The stimulus does not object to the claim that our understanding of intelligent life is limited. It merely argues that we will find and recognize intelligent life elsewhere only if we leave our definitions open to new possibilities.

Answer choice (C): This is the correct answer choice. The stimulus argues that we will find and recognize intelligent life elsewhere only if we leave our definitions open to new possibilities. Thus it directly objects to the claim that we can answer the question about the existence of intelligent life elsewhere by defining our question more precisely.

Answer choice (D): The stimulus does not object to the claim that the question whether there is intelligent life elsewhere is so imprecise as to be meaningless. It merely argues against the idea that we can answer the question by defining it more precisely. The question might be meaninglessly imprecise as it is; but to define it more precisely, the stimulus argues, would certainly not help us find or recognize intelligent life elsewhere.

Answer choice (E): The stimulus does not object to the claim that the question whether there is intelligent life elsewhere is one we should not spend our time to answer. It merely argues that if we do want to answer the question, we should not define “intelligent life” in some precise way, but instead leave it open to new possibilities.

[dandelionsroar]

Hi, I got this right but I have a question about diagramming. When can you diagram,is it only for conditionals that you can use it? and also in a stim like this one, which if I am understanding correctly has causal and conditional language, how would you diagram it? I know on this one and most it is probably better to just skip the diagramming as it is not necessary but I just want to know for when taking the test. Thanks!!

Oh also, this is what I got when trying to diagram myself but was not sure if I handled it right, especially the middle part of the stim.

Imprecise-> Intelligent Life Differences

but can't do

~Imprecise

because

Find Life-> Imprecise(definition open)

[Jeremy Press]

Hi dandelionsroar,

The level of diagramming is very much a personal choice, and will vary depending on your level of comprehension of the stimulus. You should use that as your basic guide: can you easily track the reasoning, or the inferences, in a particular stimulus? If so, no need to diagram. But if you're seeing diagrammable statements (conditional statements and cause/effect statements are the most common ones we recommend diagramming) AND having trouble following the line of logic, then you should diagram. For me, when I start seeing multiple conditional statements in a stimulus, I like to jot them down so that I can keep track of the precise relationships and any possible connection points. I also tend to write down the pieces of cause and effect conclusions when I see them (particularly on Strengthen/Weaken questions), because it helps with my evaluation of the answer choices.

Your notes on this stimulus suggest to me that you might be trying to diagram too many things, because I'm having difficulty tracking what your diagrams mean and how they relate to specific conditional or cause/effect reasoning statements in the stimulus.

In this stimulus, I see one strong conditional statement in the last three lines of the stimulus, beginning with the phrase "we will find," but I don't see any additional conditional statements. Use the indicator words and phrases as your guide. The phrase "only if" in the second to last line of the stimulus is the trigger showing that there is a diagrammable conditional statement there.

Other than that conditional statement, there are no other conditionals or cause/effect statements that I would diagram here. That's because I don't see any other strong conditional reasoning or causal reasoning indicators, and no statements that could function as causal or conditional even in the absence of indicator words. If you haven't memorized your indicator words (for sufficient/necessary conditions; and for cause/effect statements), I would prioritize that, because they are the best guide to when diagramming may be useful.

I hope this helps!

Jeremy