Reading Comprehension

PT149 · S2 · P2 · Q10 The Multiverse

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In a typical Hollywood action movie, the hero skirts death to complete a mission.

Topic

The "fine-tuning" of the laws of physics in our universe, the idea of the multiverse, and recent challenges to how exceptional our universe may really be.

Framework

Challenge Position

Main Point

Although many scientists argue that our universe appears "finely tuned" to allow life and see this as evidence for the existence of a multiverse, new research (like that done by the author) suggests that alternative sets of physical laws could also allow complex structures and possibly life, so the fine-tuning argument might be overstated. (The Most Valuable Sentence: This is found at the end of the fifth paragraph.)

P1: Action Movie Analogy

The author starts by comparing the survival of a movie hero against all odds to how finely balanced the conditions in our universe seem to be—lots of things could have gone wrong, but they didn't.

P2: Fine-Tuning Problem in Physics

Just like in the movie, our universe seems unlikely; a tiny change in physical laws could have prevented life from existing. This mysterious "fine-tuning" makes the existence of our universe seem improbable.

P3: The Multiverse Hypothesis

Some cosmologists try to solve this improbability by proposing there are lots of universes (a "multiverse"), each with different laws, making it less surprising that at least one (ours) turned out just right.

10.

The final paragraph of the passage functions primarily to

  1. demonstrate the inadequacy of the

    Too Strong: demonstrate inadequacy

    The author isn't being mean or critical in this final paragraph. She isn't trying to demonstrate the inadequacy of the multiverse. To the contrary, she's saying that the multiverse theory may still well be accurate / useful.

    6% picked this

  2. indicate the kinds of questions

    Opposite

    This is, of course, designed to appeal to us because the author was asking a question and this answer choice uses the word "question". But "answering a question" is very different from "indicating what kinds of questions this research can be applied to". The author never indicates any types of questions her research could now be applied to. In fact, the author's point in the final paragraph is closer to saying, "You should not extend my research to have any bearing on the question of whether there's a multiverse".

    10% picked this

  3. Correct

    discuss the implications of the

    Why this is right

    Woohoo, I guessed the word implications, because I have become as unlovable as the LSAT. "Implications" is a synonym for "consequence, repercussion, result". Our author's question is wondering whether her findings about fine tuning now result in our thinking less of the multiverse concept. If you don't need the multiverse concept in order to explain fine tuning, does that imply that the multiverse concept has been weakened? Her discussion in the final paragraph is saying, "Do our findings have the implication of undermining the concept of the multiverse? No, our findings don't necessarily imply anything bad for the multiverse, for two reasons (that I'll now disuss). First ...."

    Skill tested: Paragraph Purpose · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.

    71% picked this

  4. consider two potential counterarguments to

    Out of Scope: counterarguments

    The author isn't presenting any counterarguments to her position. She is asking whether her findings should be considered something of a counterargument to the multiverse concept.

    11% picked this

  5. suggest a course of future

    Out of Scope

    Out of Scope: future experiments to test The author is pretty settled about the correctness of her findings. She doesn't indicate any future experiments that would test whether she was right. She isn't suggesting any actions to take in the last paragraph. She is only suggesting an attitude: "don't give up on the multiverse, just because we don't need it to explain fine tuning."

    3% picked this

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