Bunuel wrote:
Graphologists claim that it is possible to detect permanent character traits by examining people’s handwriting. For example, a strong cross on the “t” is supposed to denote enthusiasm. Obviously, however, with practice and perseverance people can alter their handwriting to include this feature. So it seems that graphologists must hold that permanent character traits can be changed.
The argument against graphology proceeds by
(A) citing apparently incontestable evidence that leads to absurd consequences when conjoined with the view in question
(B) demonstrating that an apparently controversial and interesting claim is really just a platitude
(C) arguing that a particular technique of analysis can never be effective when the people analyzed know that it is being used
(D) showing that proponents of the view have no theoretical justification for the view
(E) attacking a technique by arguing that what the technique is supposed to detect can be detected quite readily without it
OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
(A) Yes. The passage implies that graphologists claim that a strong cross on the “t” denotes the
permanent character trait, enthusiasm. The passage then states the strong cross on the “t” can be changed and therefore that the character trait enthusiasm can be changed. However, this directly contradicts the assumption that enthusiasm is a
permanent character trait. Hence, the graphologists’ claim leads to the absurd consequence that a character trait can be simultaneously permanent and not permanent.
(B) No. The argument does not show that the claim is a platitude (a trite remark).
(C) No. There is no discussion of whether the people being analyzed by the graphologists are aware that they are being analyzed. Rather the argument points out that people can intentionally change “
permanent character traits,” regardless of their reason for doing so.
(D) No. The passage merely presents one counterexample.
(E) No. The passage is arguing that graphology is invalid, not superfluous.