Logical Reasoning

PT4 · S4 · Q8 Prominent business executives often play

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Prominent business executives often play active roles in United States presidential campaigns as fund-raisers or backroom strategists, but few actually seek to become president themselves.

Curious Fact

How come business executives rarely try to become president?

Author's Explanation

The personality that makes for success in business (which is hierarchical) doesn't make for success in politics (which is coordinative and requires compromises and power-sharing).

Goal

When we want to weaken any Explain-Curious-Fact-style argument we have two options:

1. Suggest an Alternate Explanation for the curious fact 2. Hurt the plausibility of the author's story

So let's either find a different reason why business executives don't run for president, or let's find an answer that attacks the idea that the reason they wouldn't want to be president is because they're uncomfortable with compromises and power-sharing.

8.

Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the proposed explanation of why business executives do not run for president?

  1. Many of the most active

    No Impact

    This has nothing to do with offering a different reason for why business executives avoid running for president. And it doesn't attack the story that it's because politics requires compromise and power-sharing, which executives are uncomfortable with.

    15% picked this

  2. Correct

    Military leaders are generally no

    Why this is right

    This is a stronger idea ("generally"). Most military leaders are no more comfortable with compromises and power-sharing than are business executives. Yet, military leaders commonly try to be president whereas business execs usually don't. So this hurts the plausibility of the author's causal explanation. CAUSE EFFECT uncomfortable not gonna w/ compromise > > run for and power sharing president This answer weakens with Cause w/o Effect data points. The military leaders have the same supposed Cause (discomfort with compromise and power sharing) but they don't experience the supposed Effect (avoid running for president).

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

    76% picked this

  3. Some of the skills needed

    No Impact / Weak: some

    This has nothing to do with offering a different reason for why business executives avoid running for president. And it doesn't attack the story that it's because politics requires compromise and power-sharing, which executives are uncomfortable with. It's just saying that being a good lawyer and being a good military leader have at least some differences, which is an obvious truth and weakly worded.

    1% picked this

  4. Some former presidents have engaged

    No Impact / Weak: some

    This has nothing to do with offering a different reason for why business executives avoid running for president. And it doesn't attack the story that it's because politics requires compromise and power-sharing, which executives are uncomfortable with. It's saying that at least one former president has engaged in business ventures after leaving office, but being engaged in a business venture is not the same as "being a business executive", so this idea really goes nowhere.

    7% picked this

  5. Some hierarchically structured companies have

    No Impact / Weak: some

    This has nothing to do with offering a different reason for why business executives avoid running for president. And it doesn't attack the story that it's because politics requires compromise and power-sharing, which executives are uncomfortable with. It's just says that at least one hierarchically structured company donated to presidential campaign.

    1% picked this

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