Logical Reasoning

PT10 · S4 · Q1 A physician who is too thorough

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A physician who is too thorough in conducting a medical checkup is likely to subject the patient to the discomfort and expense of unnecessary tests.

Conclusion (therefore)

It is generally unwise for patients to have medical checkups when they don't feel ill.

Evidence

Too thorough = unnecessary tests, discomfort, expense. Not thorough enough = missed serious problems and false sense of security.

Physicians can't easily judge the right level of thoroughness.

Evaluate

At first, this argument reads like a False Choice.

If you're too thorough, bad things happen. If you're not thorough enough, bad things happen.

So the author is thinking, "bad things are gonna happen either way". But this framing seems to ignore the possible middle ground: what if you're just the right amount of thorough?

If doctors are usually the correct amount of thorough, then it would be usually still be wise for patients to have a checkup.

But -- there is a premise saying that it's hard for doctors to judge the right amount, so that makes it harder to argue that they're usually the right amount of thorough.

Do we have a way to say that even if the doctor is too thorough or not thorough enough, that it's still worthwhile to have medical checkups?

Goal

We need to talk about the upsides of having medical checkups when you otherwise feel healthy, or to minimize the downsides of doing so.

Which one of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the argument in the passage?

Correct
Some serious diseases in their
Why this is right
This provides a big ol' upside of seeing the doctor even though you're well. Yes, the doctor might be too thorough and subject you to the discomfort and expense of tests, but they might be able to catch a serious disease in the early stages and avoid a terrible outcome! In a sense, this is helping us make the counterargument that even if getting a checkup while healthy often involves some unpleasantries (for no apparent benefit, since you ARE healthy), it's worth it for the sake of potentially catching a serious disease early and preventing an immense about of suffering. So go get that colonoscopy, fellas!
Skill tested: Weaken · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.
83% picked this
Under the pressure of reduced
No Impact
If anything, this feels like it would fuel the author's narrative that the doctor won't be thorough enough to notice your issue and will thereby give you a false sense of security.
1% picked this
Patients not medically trained are
No Impact
This seems to reinforce the author's concern that we don't know how to be thorough, so we create negative outcomes by doing too much or too little. The doctors have a hard time deciding on the right amount, and now we know that patients also have a hard time.
7% picked this
Many people are financially unable
No Impact
This seems to strengthen the author's position that if you're healthy, it's unwise to go to the doctor, since they will often order expensive and unnecessary tests.
1% picked this
Some physicians sometimes exercise exactly
No Impact
This might feel like a great False Choice objection - "aha! There's a middle ground between those two options." But it's just far too weak an answer. It only says that "at least once, a physician has gotten exactly the right degree". The author already concedes that some physicians get the right thoroughness sometimes; the issue is that they can't reliably do so. "Some sometimes get it right" is consistent with the author's claim that calibration is generally unreliable. And the conclusion is saying it's GENERALLY unwise, so it can accommodate exceptions such as Dr. Wonderful who perfectly calibrates the level of thoroughness.
9% picked this

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