Columnist: The relief from the drudgery of physical labor that much

In an assumption question, start with identifying the conclusion, which is :
Modern technology does two ugly things:

• undermines life’s charm.
• decreases overall well-being of users of the technology

Supporting premise:
While modern technology may seem to offer some sort of relief to its users,
it is actually ironical that people are becoming more dependent on it with every
passing day. Also since users are now dependent on energy systems to run
the technology, they are becoming less self-sufficient.

Let's jump to PoE:


Let's once review the chain of events here:
technology usage ->less self sufficient -> decrease in ( life's charm and overall wellness of its users)
If I negate (A)
Physical labor is NOT essential to a fulfilling life
Oops !! This does not undermine my conclusion. In fact argument says
relief from physical labor and using technology is actually making people less self-sufficient
and decreasing their wellness. Cross out this.


Let us negate this:
Self-sufficiency does not contribute to a person’s well-being
Hey I just broke the last link . Yup my conclusion is invalid. A valid assumption.


Way out of scope of argument. Why do I at all need to assume this. Easy out


Compensation of losses in life's charm by any sort of gain is way out of scope of argument and need not be assumed at all.


Close , but not correct ans. Is this a MUST BE TRUE unstated premise for my conclusion to be valid?
Let's negate to find:
Technology inherently does not limit the well-being of its users.
Nope, does not do anything to conclusion. Remember, a correct negated choice must
SHATTER the conclusion.

generis nightblade354 gmatexam439 ammuseeru pikolo2510 Harshgmat
Please add your two cents to above reasoning.

Great question!

Premise

Modern technology provides relief from the drudgery of physical labor, rendering such users dependent on the said technology. This leads to loss of self -sufficiency, which in turn diminishes the overall well-being of its users.

Conclusion

Loss of self -sufficiency diminishes well-being.

Assumption

Any answer choice which gives a causal relation between self-sufficiency and well being will sufficiently bridge the gap between the conclusion and the premise.

Let us understand the causality here, shall we?

People who use Modern technology => Are relieved from the drudgery of physical labor => Become dependent on modern technology => Lose self-sufficiency => (Undermining life's charm) AND (Overall well being)

Gotta hand me some of that lovely Kudos, don't you think?

Hey chickckens!
Yes, you are correct to go with answer choice (B). However, eliminating all other answer choices should be equally important when practicing questions. I welcome you to have a look at my answer to this question.

Dear adkikani

Please note that option E) is actually the conclusion stated in the question.

(E) Technology inherently limits the well-being of its users

Last statement is - "much modern technology diminishes the overall well-being of its users"

We need to find assumption which will support the above conclusion.

Hope this helps

A word of caution, as (E) is not our conclusion. Modern technology and technology are not interchangeable. This is a key reason why (E) is not the correct answer.

A word of caution, as (E) is not our conclusion. Modern technology and technology are not interchangeable. This is a key reason why (E) is not the correct answer.


nightblade354

noted

Critically reasoned

Good job to all! Kudos were awarded to 2 people: sudarshan22 and abhinav770.

If anyone needs further clarification, please ask!

Adding to the explanation of (E), I would say that "Diminish" is totally different to "limit". Diminish does not mean limit and vice versa.

Therefore, when (E) is negated, it becomes "Technology inherently does not limits the well-being of its users". This leaves the possibility that Technology could diminish the well-being of its users. The conclusion then still holds true.

Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.