Observatory director: Some say that funding the megatelescope will

Question

Observatory director: Some say that funding the megatelescope will benefit only the astronomers who will work with it. This dangerous point of view, applied to the work of Maxwell, Newton, or Einstein, would have stifled their research and deprived the world of beneficial applications, such as the development of radio, that followed from that research.

If the statements above are put forward as an argument in favor of development of the megatelescope, which one of the following is the strongest criticism of that argument?

If the statements above are put forward as an argument in favor of development of the megatelescope, which one of the following is the strongest criticism of that argument?

(A) It appeals to the authority of experts who cannot have known all the issues involved in construction of the megatelescope.

(B) It does not identify those opposed to development of the megatelescope.

(C) It launches a personal attack on opponents of the megatelescope by accusing them of having a dangerous point of view.

(D) It does not distinguish between the economic and the intellectual sense of “benefit.”

(E) It does not show that the proposed megatelescope research is worthy of comparison with that of eminent scientists in its potential for applications.

kuttingchai · Answer

E

We have to criticism the arugment in favor of development of the megatelescope

(A) It appeals to the authority of experts who cannot have known all the issues involved in construction of the megatelescope.
--> Out of scope (not discussing issues involved in construction)

(B) It does not identify those opposed to development of the megatelescope.
--> Out of scope (we dont have to identify any1)

(C) It launches a personal attack on opponents of the megatelescope by accusing them of having a dangerous point of view.
--> Not a personal attack

(D) It does not distinguish between the economic and the intellectual sense of “benefit.”
--> Not a correct comparision

(E) It does not show that the proposed megatelescope research is worthy of comparison with that of eminent scientists in its potential for applications. 
--> Correct comparision

chesstitans · Answer

hello, which type of this question should I call?
Weaken, assumption, or a flaw?

GMATNinjaTwo · Answer

I'd say this most closely resembles a flaw question; then again, I don't believe that properly identifying question types is the key to success (refer to section called "The real reason why you’re missing CR questions" in the  Ultimate CR Guide for Beginners ).

Also, this is an LSAT question, so if the question type is tricky to pin down, I wouldn't worry too much.

unraveled · Answer

Observatory director: Some say that funding the megatelescope will benefit only the astronomers who will work with it. This dangerous point of view, applied to the work of Maxwell, Newton, or Einstein, would have stifled their research and deprived the world of beneficial applications, such as the development of radio, that followed from that research.

If the statements above are put forward as an argument in favor of development of the megatelescope, which one of the following is the strongest criticism of that argument?

If the statements above are put forward as an argument in favor of development of the megatelescope, which one of the following is the strongest criticism of that argument?

(A) It appeals to the authority of experts  who cannot have known all the issues  involved in construction of the megatelescope.

(B) It  does not identify  those opposed to development of the megatelescope.

(C) It  launches a personal attack  on opponents of the megatelescope by accusing them of having a dangerous point of view.

(D) It does not  distinguish between  the economic and the intellectual sense of “benefit.”

(E) It does not show that the proposed megatelescope research is worthy of comparison with that of eminent scientists in its potential for applications.

The argument is similar to one where a politician appeals to general public by comparing him/her work to that of some old legendary/revolutionary forefathers of a nation in order to justify his/her argument.

On that note ONLY E makes it to the cut.

Answer E.

agrasan · Answer

Hi  KarishmaB   MartyMurray

(D) It does not distinguish between the economic and the intellectual sense of "benefit".

Can you please explain why (D) is wrong? Is it wrong because  "economic"  or monetary/financial and  "intellect"  are not discussed anywhere in the argument?

guddo · Answer

Observatory director: Some say that funding the megatelescope will benefit only the astronomers who will work with it. This dangerous point of view, applied to the work of Maxwell, Newton, or Einstein, would have stifled their research and deprived the world of beneficial applications, such as the development of radio, that followed from that research.

If the statements above are put forward as an argument in favor of development of the megatelescope, which one of the following is the strongest criticism of that argument?

If the statements above are put forward as an argument in favor of development of the megatelescope, which one of the following is the strongest criticism of that argument?

The director argues: “People once could have said famous research only benefited scientists, but it later produced big real world applications, so we should fund the megatelescope too.” The core problem is that this relies on a  weak analogy  between the megatelescope project and those past breakthroughs.

(A) It appeals to the authority of experts who cannot have known all the issues involved in construction of the megatelescope.

This misses the point. The argument is not “Maxwell says fund it,” it is “past basic research had unexpected benefits.”

(B) It does not identify those opposed to development of the megatelescope.

Not needed. An argument can be assessed without naming the opponents.

(C) It launches a personal attack on opponents of the megatelescope by accusing them of having a dangerous point of view.

Calling the view “dangerous” is rhetoric, but it is not the main logical gap. The main gap is whether the comparison actually supports funding this telescope.

(D) It does not distinguish between the economic and the intellectual sense of “benefit.”

The argument is about “benefit” in a broad sense, including real world applications. It does not hinge on switching between two different meanings in a way that drives the conclusion.

(E) It does not show that the proposed megatelescope research is worthy of comparison with that of eminent scientists in its potential for applications.

Yes. This is the  key flaw : even if some past fundamental research led to major applications, it does not follow that this specific project is similarly likely to do so.

Answer: (E)

guddo · Answer

Yes, basically.

(D) claims the argument wrongly switches between two meanings of “benefit” (economic vs intellectual). But the director uses “benefit” in one consistent, ordinary sense:  useful outcomes for the world , including practical applications like radio. There is no point where “benefit” clearly means  intellectual advancement only  and then later means financial gain, or vice versa. So there’s no equivocation for (D) to criticize.

MartyMurray · Answer

It's true that, as (D) says, the argument "does not distinguish between the economic and the intellectual sense of "benefit."

At the same time, the reason (D) is not correct is that the fact that argument does not distinguish between the two is not a flaw in the argument.

After all, the evidence that the world would have been deprived of beneficial applications in the examples cited supports funding the development of the megatelescope regardless of whether the argument distinguishes between the economic and the intellectual sense of "benefit."

Observatory director: Some say that funding the megatelescope will

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Observatory director: Some say that funding the megatelescope will

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