Logical Reasoning

PT149 · S3 · Q5 Eating turmeric, a spice commonly found

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Eating turmeric, a spice commonly found in curries, probably helps prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

Conclusion (probably = Opinion)

Eating turmeric probably helps prevent Alzheimer's disease.

Evidence (X, furthermore Y)

More turmeric per capita is consumed in India than in the rest of the world, and India's rate of Alzheimer's is much lower than the global average.

Also, Alzheimer's is characterized by the buildup of amyloid protein plaques in the brain, and studies have found that a compound in turmeric (curcumin) reduces that amyloid plaque buildup.

Evaluate

Well this argument is already pretty strong! The last sentence gives a Causal Mechanism explanation of how turmeric could plausibly impact Alzheimer's. The 2nd sentence gives us a Correlation to Causation type piece of evidence.

There's a strong correlation in India of turmeric consumption and low rate of Alzheimer's, but we don't know for sure that this means one causes the other. We could use our Explain Curious Fact framework:

Curious Fact ... Why do people in India have higher than average turmeric consumption and lower than average Alzheimer's?

Author's Explanation ... The turmeric consumption is lowering their risk of Alzheimer's, because the curcumin in turmeric reduces the amyloid plaque buildup that characterizes Alzheimer's.

Goal

We could strengthen this argument by ruling out an Alternate Explanation for why India has a lower rate of Alzheimer's.

Or we can strengthen by adding to the plausibility of the author's explanation, that eating turmeric helps to prevent Alzheimer's.

5.

Which one of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?

  1. Rosemary and ginger, which contain

    Weakens

    This suggests an Alternate Explanation for why Indian people have lower rates of Alzheimer's. It's not the turmeric; it's the rosemary and ginger! Technically, it could be all three. So even if we want to think "this doesn't weaken", that's fair. But it certainly doesn't strengthen. It could add to the plausibility of this author's hypothesis if we were told "rosemary and ginger have ingredients that act like curcumin, and they are also correlated with lower rates of Alzheimer's in any culture that consumes them heavily".

    4% picked this

  2. Many scientists believe that the

    Weakens, if Anything

    It's very weak impact to talk about what a handful of scientists believe. But it seems like even if we went with their idea, it would weaken. The author's causal story is this 1. eat turmeric 2. curcumin in your blood 3. curcumin breaks down amyloid plaques in your brain 4. keeps you from getting Alzheimer's The move from 3 to 4 assumes that the plaque causes the Alzheimer's. The author is thinking, "reduce the plaque → prevent Alzheimer's". But if the plaque is a symptom of Alzheimer's, then turmeric just reduces a symptom; it doesn't prevent the disease.

    1% picked this

  3. The proportion of people living

    Weakens

    This provides an Alternate Explanation for why India has a lower than average rate of Alzheimer's. It's not the turmeric, it's the fact that there's a smaller percentage of the population that is at the age that is highest risk of Alzheimer's. Like if Alzheimer's is most common amongst people in their 70s, but India has a smaller percent of its population in their 70s than other countries do, then that would explain why they have a lower incidence of Alzheimer's.

    6% picked this

  4. None of the other compounds

    No Impact

    This has no effect, since it's just saying that we haven't studied something.

    0% picked this

  5. Correct

    The parts of India that

    Why this is right

    This strengthens the plausibility of the author's causal hypothesis (that turmeric helps prevent Alzheimer's) by giving us More Cause, More Effect data points. It's showing us more evidence of correlations between turmeric and Alzheimer's rates. Turmeric is commonly found in curries, and the parts of India where they eat the most curry (and thus presumably the most turmeric) are the places with the lowest incidence of Alzheimer's. This adds to the body of evidence we have suggesting that turmeric helps lower incidence of Alzheimer's.

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

    89% picked this

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