#23 - An advertisement states: Like Danaxil, all headache

[nico936]

Hello,

I am having a hard time grasping why the answer to question 16 is not B. After reading the necessary chapters in the logical reasoning bible as recommended by the six month study plan, I have learned that the stimulus in must be true questions will always contain the facts necessary to answer the question. I have also learned that we are to not introduce any outside information and to treat each stimulus as if it is the 100% truth regardless of how outlandish the fact set or argument is. Now then, in this question, if we are to believe that the particular drug mentioned is the fastest to remedy headaches, and that person A takes this drug compared to person B who doesn't, why is it that it cannot be properly concluded that person A will recover quicker? Of course, answer C makes sense too, but B is true 100 percent if we are to believe the stimulus is true 100%.

Thank you for your time

[Adam Tyson]

That's the question about Danaxil, right? Good question, nico936! A lot of students struggle initially with this one, especially because most of us prephrase that Evelyn will get relief faster than Jane. That's what the advertisers want you to think, right? But beware - advertisements rarely prove the thing that they want you to believe, and that's a big red flag!

The key here is that the authors never said that Danaxil was faster than everything else, or that nothing was "as fast" as Danaxil. Instead, they said that nothing was "faster" than Danaxil. That means everything else could be slower, but it also means that some things could be the same speed! A tie is possible, and that is why the correct answer is not that Evelyn gets faster relief, but that she does not get slower relief. They could tie! B doesn't have to be true at all, but C must be, if we accept what we were given in the stimulus.

There's another factor at play here, and that is something we call the "uniqueness principle" of answer choices. Only one answer can be correct at a time. If answer B was the correct answer, it would force answer C to be equally correct, wouldn't it? If Evelyn gets faster relief, then she clearly does not get slower relief. Because answer B FORCES answer C to also be correct, B cannot be the correct answer, because that would violate the uniqueness principle. There can be only one!

Beware of making a False Dilemma here, nico (which we cover in Lesson 7 in our full length course). Just because one thing isn't slower than another doesn't prove that it's faster. They could be the same speed!

For further discussion of this excellent question, check out this thread:

lsat/viewtopic.php?t=8679

[nico936]

Thank you so much. I always beat myself up afterwards. It seems so obvious now that I should have known that.

[rhjones2691]

Hello,

I have some confusion about the answer choices in this problem. However, my question does not concern the difference between "more quickly" in choice (B) and "at least as quickly" in choice (C); I understand that relationship. Rather, my question revolves around the advertisement's use of the word "pain." The advertisement says that "no headache pills stops pain more quickly." However, choice (C) only states that the "headache" will be relieved at least as quickly, not the headache pain. Perhaps this was an instance of overthinking the question, but in my mind, Danaxil could relieve the headache pain more quickly, while not necessarily relieving the underlying cause of the headache at least as quickly. Therefore, I selected choice (B) rather than (C), thinking this was an instance of the test maker's focusing on a specific word in the stimulus. Was this simply a mere act of overthinking the problem, or is this a legitimate point of contention? Thanks!

[Adam Tyson]

Definitely overthinking it, rhjones! While you made a distinction between the headache and the headache pain, you then failed to make a distinction between the headache and the CAUSE of the headache. You swapped one potential problem for an entirely new one, and brought in outside info to a Must Be True question, which you should not do. This ad has nothing to do with the causes of headaches, just with the headaches themselves.

Btw, in common usage, a headache is a pain in the head. The ache is the pain - they are the same thing. Causes are a whole other thing from the headaches themselves. My headache might be causes by someone pelting me with a rock. The pill will stop the pain, but it won't turn back time and make the rock miss me!

Keep at it, and don't overthink!

[rhjones2691]

Great, thank you very much for the reply!

[concrottrox11@gmail.com]

After completing the Danaxil question which addresses how if something is described as "more quickly," the objects it is being compared to can be both the same speed or slower, I am getting confused when doing other problems when for example, A is described as being "taller" than B or C is the "tallest" in comparison to A and B. Because these two example comparisons do not work the same way as the Danaxil question. How can I understand the difference between these two topics, so that I do no confuse them?

[Robert Carroll]

concrottrox11,

The Danaxil problem does not allow "more quickly" to mean "more quickly or equal to". The stimulus says that "no pill stops pain more quickly" than Danaxil. This means that every other pill is slower OR equal to Danaxil. That's because "more quickly" means...quicker. "Not more quickly" means the logical opposite, that is, everything else: either slower OR equal.

So there is no inconsistency with what you saw in logic games. "More quickly" means that they cannot be equal. "Taller" means that they cannot be equal. No difference.

Robert Carroll