Question #1164

Thrown off by the “most”

Started by Zeek · started 2020-08-12 02:20 · last activity 2020-08-13 13:21 · 3 replies

So when I read answer choice (a) I read “most” genetically abnormalities do not affect a pure bred dogs well being too mean that “some” genetic abnormalities still do affect the dogs well being. Since a non purebred would rarely get this disease I figured it could still be more costly; thus I eliminated this answer choice. Could someone correct my logic for me?

Replies

  1. shunhe · 2020-08-12 15:25

    Hi @Zeek, Thanks for the question! So the main thing here is to note that on the LSAT, “most” and “some” have very special meanings. “Some” means “at least one, but possibly all,” and “most” means “more than half, but possibly all.” So we wouldn’t use them how we’d use them in real life really. But the idea here is to say, if all of X are Y, then most/some of X are also Y. Take the following example: all swans are white. That also means that most swans are white (since all swans are white), and some swans are white (since all swans are white). So just saying “most swans are white” doesn’t preclude the possibility that all swans are white, so we can’t conclude that “most swans are white” means that “some swans aren’t white,” which is basically what you did here. And that’s what started off the chain of incorrect reasoning. Hope this helps! Feel free to ask any other questions that you might have.

  2. Zeek · 2020-08-13 01:25

    Ok I understand now. Thanks for the clarification!

  3. shunhe · 2020-08-13 13:21

    Glad I was able to help!

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