Logical Reasoning

PT117 · S3 · Q2 Leatherbacks, the largest of the

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Leatherbacks, the largest of the sea turtles, when subjected to the conditions of captivity, are susceptible to a wide variety of fatal diseases with which they would never come in contact if they lived in the wild.

Given that ...

Captive leatherbacks are exposed to fatal diseases they'd never encounter in the wild.

How can it be that ...

The likelihood of reaching maximum life expectancy is about the same in captivity and in the wild?

Evaluate

We're told there's something worse / life-shortening about living in captivity.

So if max life expectancy is the same for captive vs. wild, then we either need to hear: - something good / life-elongating about captivity - something bad / life-shortening about the wild - these fatal diseases that become a risk on captivity are not actually shortening the lives of any leatherbacks

Goal

I'd be looking for a distinction between captivity and the wild, something GOOD about captivity or BAD about the wild, when it comes to life span.

2.

Which one of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent discrepancy?

  1. Fewer diseases attack leatherbacks than

    No Distinction

    We need a distinction between captive leatherbacks and wild leatherbacks, not a distinction between leatherbacks and other aquatic reptiles. We can't use this to say, "The captive leatherbacks don't need to worry about diseases in captivity, because leatherbacks don't get as many diseases as other reptiles do", because we already know that captive leatherbacks are susceptible to a wide variety of fatal diseases, unique to captivity. We can't deny that background condition.

    5% picked this

  2. The average life expectancy of

    No Distinction

    We need a distinction between captive leatherbacks and wild leatherbacks, not a distinction between leatherbacks and other marine animals. How are captive leatherbacks just as likely to reach max life expectancy as wild ones are, given that captivity comes with a bunch of unique fatal diseases? This answer provides no storyline for answering that question.

    3% picked this

  3. Correct

    Most leatherbacks that perish in

    Why this is right

    This presents an implicit distinction between captivity and the wild. We know that there isn't any threat of predation in captivity. If the zoo or animal hospital has animals that prey on leatherbacks, those predators would be caged separately, not allowed to have a leathery turtle snack. So this answer presents a life-shortening downside of living in the wild. Turtles in captivity don't live as long as they could, because of fatal captivity diseases. Turtles in the wild don't live as long as they could, because something eats them. So that's why they end up about equally likely to reach their max life span.

    Skill tested: Paradox · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

    81% picked this

  4. Few zoologists have sufficient knowledge

    Restates Paradox

    If zoologists struggle to set up good captive environments, that would worsen captive leatherbacks' survival, making the paradox even MORE confusing. This gave us another bad thing about captivity. We were trying to resolve the paradox with a good thing about captivity or a bad thing about the wild.

    10% picked this

  5. The size of a leatherback

    No Distinction

    This answer made me chuckle, not gonna lie. This provides no distinction between captive leatherbacks and wild leatherbacks. It's about the species overall, so it's useless to us. But don't condescend to that tiny leatherback that you assume is a baby. That's actually a 147 year old grandpa who survived multiple turtle world wars.

    1% picked this

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