#18 - The question whether intelligent life exists elsewhere

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

Method of Reasoning. The correct answer choice is (D)

The stimulus challenges the claim that we can answer the question about the existence of intelligent life elsewhere by defining it more precisely. It argues that we must leave our definitions open to new possibilities if we are to find and recognize intelligent life in the universe. By defining the question more precisely we will only work against our goal of answering the question.

Answer choice (A): The passage does not show that the claim is irrelevant to the issue at hand. It merely shows that the claim is incorrect because it will work against our goal of answering the question with regards to intelligent life elsewhere.

Answer choice (B): The passage does not cite any examples that fail to fit a proposed definition of “intelligent life”.

Answer choice (C): The passage does not claim that “intelligent life” cannot be adequately defined. Rather, it argues that defining it more precisely will work against our goal of answering the question of intelligent life elsewhere. To find and recognize intelligent life, the stimulus argues, we must leave our definitions open to new possibilities.

Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer choice. The passage argues against the claim that we can answer the question about intelligent life by defining the question more precisely, because the claim will actually work against our goal. If we want to answer the question about intelligent life, the passage argues, we must leave our definitions open to new possibilities. Thus it will be counterproductive for us to define the question of intelligent life more precisely, as the claim suggests that we do, since it will in fact prevent us from finding and recognizing intelligent life elsewhere in the universe.

Answer choice (E): The passage does not argue that the claim is unsupported by evidence, but rather that it will not aid us in our goal. In fact, the passage suggests that the claim will work against our goal of finding intelligent life elsewhere in the universe.

[kcho10]

But aren't 'adequate' and 'precise' different terms? Doesn't adequate lean more towards 'satisfactory/acceptable' whereas precise means 'exact/specific'?

The argument is saying that the question is imprecise (inadequate), and that we cannot make it more precise without neglecting other possibilities (also inadequate). Isn't the author therefore saying that intelligent life can't be adequately defined?

I hope I am making sense. 'Precise' and 'adequate' seem like different terms to me. Please help explain what I am missing here. Thank you

[Francis O'Rourke]

Hi Kcho,

Your definitions of "adequate" and "precise" are spot on. And you are correct that they are different in important ways.

This makes me wonder why you are using the terms synonymously in your question.

The argument is saying that the question is imprecise (inadequate), ....

As you yourself said, there is an important distinction between an imprecise and an inadequate definition or question. The stimulus discusses imprecision, not inadequacy. Since you seem to understand the difference between these ideas, I'm not sure how you inferred that the argument concerned adequate definitions.

Let me know where you saw that, and I'll try to help you out further.

[sdb606]

I'm having trouble seeing where the antecedent claim comes from. Can you please confirm my reasoning below?

The argument alone isn't necessarily objecting to any claim. The stem forces the argument to object to a claim. To make the argument object to a claim, you negate the necessary condition in the argument. That new conditional statement is the claim being objected to in the argument.

Stimulus: Find and recognize intelligent life imprecise definition of intelligent life
Claim to object to: Find and recognize intelligent life NOT imprecise definition of intelligent life (aka precise definition)

Therefore, the antecedent claim is that we must use a precise definition of intelligent life to find intelligent life. According to D, if we act on the claim, that is, we use a precise definition of intelligent life to make it possible (but not sufficient) for us to find intelligent life, we are being counterproductive because only imprecise definitions will let us find intelligent life.

[Adam Tyson]

Your reasoning is excellent here, sdb606! I wouldn't have thought of it in those exact conditional terms, but that approach works very well. The only point on which I would disagree, and it is a minor one, is that the author is not saying that we will ONLY find intelligent life if our definition is imprecise, but that we will be UNLIKELY to find it in that case.

Nice work!

[cgleeson]

Hi,
This one was really tough for me. I think I made a couple of errors (Errors in my Reasoning LOL)
I assumed, the conclusion to be the first sentence, I did not understand what the question was asking only that I needed to find an objection. I crossed out B and D. I was leaning to C but realized that there was no objection there. I looked to E and my problem there was I didn't see any "available evidence". I can't explain why I held onto A. The explanation using conditional terms (a student posted) sort of explained things a little bit to me. I really think my problem was understanding the question stem. I have my LR question objectives on my iPad while I'm working on questions, and I just go down the line. I tried breaking the question stem down into smaller pieces however that neglected to give me a full understanding. Any suggestions on this type of question?
Chris

[Rachael Wilkenfeld]

Hi Chris,

This is a method question because it asks us to figure out HOW the argument is made. Whenever you are asked to determine how an argument is made, you are looking for an answer choice that describes the method of reasoning. That means your goal is to describe what structurally you see happening in the stimulus. You want to think abstractly about how you would describe the argument as your prephrase. Any answer choice that does not describe what you see in the stimulus is incorrect and can be eliminated.

Hope that helps!