Logical Reasoning

PT118 · S1 · Q18 There is evidence to suggest

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There is evidence to suggest that our cave-dwelling ancestors polished many of their flints to a degree far surpassing what was necessary for hunting purposes.

Conclusion (therefore)

It seems that early humans possessed an aesthetic sense.

Evidence

Our cave-dwelling ancestors polished many of their flints to a degree far surpassing what was necessary for hunting purposes.

Evaluate

Most of the time that arguments deal with archaeological discoveries (found artifacts / bones / etc), the author tries to interpret the significance of the discovery, so we end up with an Explain the Curious Fact type argument. A flint, in case you don't know, is a type of rock that cavemen would use to make weapons or tools. It's basically a chunk of rock that has a pointy spot that humans could sharpen and affix to a spear.

Curious Fact ... Why were these flints polished beyond what was necessary for hunting purposes?

Author's Explanation ... They polished them like that simply because they found them beautiful that way.

This conclusion is one of those implied causal conclusions --- the author doesn't explicitly say,

We have to put all that together in our brains, simply by thinking about the connection between the premise and the conclusion and filling in the blanks.

When an author concludes a causal explanation for a curious fact, we always evaluate it two ways: 1. Could there be some Alternate Explanation for the curious fact? 2. How plausible is the Author's Explanation?

Goal

Since this is a Weaken question, we either want 1. to suggest an Alternate Explanation for why these flints were polished so much.

or

2. to undermine the plausibility of the story that cave-dwellers possessed an aesthetic sense that favored shiny things and that's why they polished their flints.

18.

Which one of the following statements, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?

  1. Most flints used by our

    Unclear Impact

    If anything, maybe this comports well with the author's explanation. If it was rare to have a highly polished flint, maybe that means the polished ones weren't for practical use; they were more for putting on a shelf and admiring. Ultimately, the ratio of highly polished to not highly polished doesn't matter. We're just trying to solve the causal mystery of why some of them were highly polished, regardless of how common or uncommon those were.

    7% picked this

  2. The caves in which the

    Weak Impact

    This might be tempting as a plausibility-weakener. "Hey, author — you say that these cave-dwellers had an aesthetic sense and that's why these flints were highly polished? Well then how come these cave-dwellers didn't have cave paintings?" However, this has pretty weak impact. If cave-dwellers do have cave paintings, that's definitely a plausibility-booster to the idea that they have an aesthetic sense. But not-having cave paintings doesn't strongly damage the idea that they had an aesthetic sense. There are lots of different ways to express an aesthetic sense, so it's just not a powerful objection.

    7% picked this

  3. There is evidence that these

    Strengthens, if anything

    This feels very appealing at first when we're listening for an Alternate Explanation for why the flints were so polished. However, polishing flints so that they can be used for display in religious ceremonies suggests that they were decorative embellishments to the ceremony. They were there because of their beauty. If they were used for display, they were meant to be looked at, and appreciated ... aesthetically.

    18% picked this

  4. Correct

    Flints were often used by

    Why this is right

    This suggests an Alternate Explanation for the Curious Fact, which is the #1 trend when we're doing a Weaken question on an Explain the Curious Fact type argument. The author moved immediately from, "If it's not polished for hunting purposes, then I guess it was just polished for sake of looking polished." This answer is saying, "That's a premature move. Hunting isn't the only use of a flint we should be considering. Remember, they used flints for everyday chores other than hunting. Maybe there was some reason to want a highly-polished flint for one of those chores."

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

    65% picked this

  5. Any benefits that an aesthetic

    No Impact: benefits of aesthetic sense

    Nothing in this argument would care whether cave-dwellers did or didn't benefit from having an aesthetic sense. We only care if the flints were highly polished for aesthetic reasons, or for some other reason.

    3% picked this

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