#21 - Columnist: Obviously, money helps one satisfy oneʼs

[Administrator]

Please post your questions below!

[theamazingrace]

Hi, I was stuck between A and C. Why is B the correct answer?

Thanks!

[KelseyWoods]

Hi Chizobao!

The conclusion here is the 2nd sentence: "people become less happy as they become more wealthy." The premises for that conclusion are that wealth "invariably creates an even greater number of desires that will not be satisfied." So wealth satisfies some desires, but creates more than can be satisfied. To strengthen this argument, we need to strengthen the link between that premise and that conclusion.

Answer choice (A) isn't relevant to the argument. The argument is just about wealth, not "extreme" wealth. Also, it's not about achieving "the highest level of happiness", it's about becoming less happy as you become more wealthy.

Answer choice (C) tells us that we don't get happier as desires are satisfied. But remember we're trying to strengthen that people become less happy as they become more wealthy. It's not enough to say that they don't become happier. We need to show that they become less happy.

Answer choice (B) provides the link we're looking for. It tells us that "The fewer unfulfilled desires one has, the happier one is." Answer choice (B) basically sets up a correlation between happiness and unfulfilled desires. So if wealth increases the number of unfulfilled desires (as the premise tells us it does) then it would follow that people would be less happy as they become more wealthy (which is the conclusion we're trying to strengthen).

Hope this helps!

Best,
Kelsey

[nicizle]

I was stuck between A and B, ultimately choosing A as my answer. I'm not fully understanding what makes A incorrect, as it is saying that the more wealthy one is (i.e. extreme wealth), the less happy they are.

The stimulus is saying more wealth will lead to more unfulfilled desires, and ultimately less happiness.

I do understand why B would be correct, as it is supporting the notion that the poorer you are, the happier you are, as you would inherently have fewer unfilled desires compared to someone who is wealthy, but does A not support this idea? How is it 'irrelevant' to the stimulus?

[lsat175er]

The reason why A is wrong is because of the wording "extreme' wealth. There is a difference between becoming "more wealthy" and becoming "extreme wealthy." im thinking like millionaire and billionaire one is more wealthy but one is extremely wealthy. Hope this helps!

[Luke Haqq]

Hi nicizle!

You comment,

I'm not fully understanding what makes A incorrect, as it is saying that the more wealthy one is (i.e. extreme wealth), the less happy they are.

I'm not sure that answer choice (A) is quite saying this. It isn't saying that the more money one has, the less happy one will be (even if it did mean that, it's not clear in that case that it'd do much to strengthen the argument, as it'd just be saying the same thing as the conclusion in different words). Rather, answer choice (A) is phrased more in terms of absolutes--"extreme wealth" prevents the "highest level of happiness." This seems close, but it doesn't quite address a conclusion about becoming less happy the more wealth one has. It's only about a certain level of wealth (extreme wealth), and it's not saying that one's unhappiness grows in proportion to that extreme wealth.