Logical Reasoning

PT13 · S4 · Q8 Oscar: Emerging information technologies will

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Oscar: Emerging information technologies will soon make speed of information processing the single most important factor in the creation of individual, corporate, and national wealth.

Conclusion (thus)

The new technologies will widen the existing economic gap between north and south.

Evidence

The poor southern countries lack the resources to acquire the new technologies and will therefore remain poor.

Evaluate

Sylvia establishes that the south will not be able to use these new technologies to increase their economic wealth.

But for a gap to widen, that would mean that the north DOES increase its wealth, via these new technologies.

So she must be Assuming a Difference. She explicitly states that the south doesn't have the resources to acquire these new technologies, but she must be implicitly assuming that some countries in the north do have the resources to implement them.

We could also potentially argue that as a result of these new technologies, other components of the world's economy will change in ways that would hurt the north or benefit the south.

Goal

Let's look for an answer that spells out the Assumed Difference (that the north will be able to capitalize on the new tech) or one that rules out a potential objection (that in this new tech world, some other thing would change that benefits the south or hurts the north economically).

8.

Sylvia’s reasoning depends on the assumption that

  1. the prosperity of the rich

    Out of Scope

    How is Sylvia saying that the rich northern countries need natural resources from the south? Her argument only discusses economic resources. And there's no implication that the northern countries are taking something from the southern countries. It's only a discussion about northern countries being able to afford something that the southern countries can't afford.

    2% picked this

  2. the emergence of new information

    Out of Scope

    This does have the lovable Defender "not", but when we negate it, we get that "there will be a big net increase in the total amount of global wealth". That doesn't hurt Sylvia's argument. She'd readily agree, "Yeah, there will be a big increase in wealth, and sadly it will all go to the north, thereby widening the economic gap."

    16% picked this

  3. there are technologies other than

    Out of Scope

    Sylvia's argument is only about what will happen as a result of the new information technologies. She isn't speaking to the potential effects of other technologies.

    5% picked this

  4. Correct

    at least some of the

    Why this is right

    This is spelling out the Assumed Difference. Sylvia thinks the economic gap will widen because the south won't be able to profit from this new tech, whereas the north will. But she forgot to say that second part out loud. If we negated this, it would badly hurt the argument. The economic gap wouldn't widen if none of the rich northern countries can effectively incorporate this new tech. This goes beyond whether the north has the resources to acquire the tech, but still stays within the lane of "things that would be required in order for the north to economically benefit from the new tech".

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

    75% picked this

  5. the speed at which information

    Out of Scope

    Sylvia hasn't committed herself to the bold claim that there will never be an upper limit to speed of processing, that it will continue to increase indefinitely, Moore's Law be damned!!

    2% picked this

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