#7 - The crux of creativity resides in the ability to

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

Must Be TrueX-SN. The correct answer choice is (E)

The key to answering this question quickly and efficiently is to understand the conditional relationships that underpin this argument. Quite simply, any "new" theme or idea is always and without exception a variation on a previous theme or idea:

Creation of "new" themes/ideas → Variation of a previous theme/idea

Since the question stem is asking us to find the one answer that is not necessarily true (each must be true EXCEPT), any answer that is logically inferable from the conditional relationship above will be incorrect.

Answer choice (A): This answer choice is simply the contrapositive of the first sentence in the stimulus: since the crux of creativity resides in (i.e. requires) the ability to manufacture variations on a theme, a lack of ability to manufacture such variations connotes a lack of creativity. Because this answer is inferable from the information in the stimulus, it is incorrect.

Answer choice (B): This answer choice paraphrases the main idea of the stimulus: if each idea is a variation on a previous one, then no idea is entirely independent of others. Because this answer is also inferable from the information in the stimulus, it is incorrect.

Answer choice (C): The third sentence in the stimulus suggests that careful analysis can make us understand that every new theme or discovery is itself always and without exception some sort of variation of previous themes. Answer choice (C) is a mere paraphrase of this observation.

Answer choice (D): Quite logically, if every idea, theme or discovery is always a variation on a theme, it follows that everyone making a discovery must be capable of manufacturing a variation on a theme. Because this answer choice is logically supported by the stimulus, it is incorrect.

Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice. If all of the statements in the stimulus are true and every scientific discovery is a variation on a previous theme, then answer choice (E) must be false as it suggests that some discoveries are not variations on a theme. Such a possibility is clearly ruled out by the evidence presented in the stimulus. Therefore, this answer choice is correct.

[Etsevdos]

Can you please explain further how c is wrong? I understand why E is correct
Third sentence : NT or ND --> Variation. C almost reads the opposite to me.

. Thanks.

[Claire Horan]

Hi Etsevdos,

Answer choice (C) reads: "Careful analysis of a specific variation can reveal previous themes of which it is a variation."

Another way of saying this is that careful analysis of a specific variation has at least once revealed the previous themes that it was a variation of. This statement must be true because it is a restatement of the stimulus sentence that reads: "Careful analysis leads us to understand that what we choose to call a new theme or a new discovery is itself always and without exception some sort of variation, on a deep level, of previous themes." That shows that careful analysis has revealed/led us to that understanding at least once.

I hope this clarifies the issue somewhat for you! Even if answer choice (C), or wrong answer choices in general, still seem confusing to you, try to focus on your expectations for what the right answer choice will look like. It's good to think about why the distractors are incorrect, but ultimately the most important thing to focus on is why the right answer is right.

Best of luck studying!

Claire

[ynam5401]

I am a bit confused regarding answer choice (E). I didn't choose (E) because the stimulus stated " at the history of science", so when the answer choice stated "some new scientific discoveries" I thought this may be the exception and hence is one of the correct answers.
Am I overthinking the answer choice?

[KelseyWoods]

Hi ynam5401!

Remember that for Must Be True questions we have to rely on precisely the wording that has been given to us. We're told that "what we choose to call a new discovery is itself always and without exception some sort of variation of previous themes." So based on that information, we are explicitly told that there are no exceptions to this general rule. The reference to the "history of science" does not suggest that new scientific discoveries do not fall under this same rule.

Even if you were to argue that there was a difference between "history of science" and "new scientific discoveries," answer choice (E) would still not be something that must be true based on the statements above because those statements are only about what we have learned from looking at the history of science and so can't apply to "new scientific discoveries" outside of the history of science. So either way you look at it, answer choice (E) is not something that must be true and is, therefore, the correct answer.

Hope this helps!

Best,
Kelsey

[haryem]

Hi,

I got this question wrong due choosing D as soon as I saw it. (didn't read all choices, and that's is my fault) I understand why E is obviously the answer, but why is D wrong? (or why does it have to be true?)

I see a leap from passage to D, D assumes that all great scientific discoverers make new discoveries. Perhaps being a great scientific discoverer only requires one to assist in making new discoveries, and this event might not require manufacturing a variation.

[Adam Tyson]

I think that might be twisting the definition of "discoverer" beyond it's clear meaning, haryem. If you are a discoverer, you must have discovered something. An assistant who discovers nothing themselves could not reasonably be called a discoverer. Thus, if one is a discoverer, they have made a discovery, and every discovery is "always and without exception some sort of variation," and answer D must therefore be true.