| Critical Reasoning Butler: January 2025 |
| January 21 | CR 1 | CR 2 |
__________________________
CR 1 A common contention among economists is that if they could build an accurate mathematical model that accounted for all economic variables, they could effectively foretell the results of any economic action. But this meaningless conjecture cannot be evaluated because any inadequate predictions would obviously be blamed on imperfections in the model.
Which of the following, if true, would cast the most serious doubt on the economists’ conjecture?
A. The monetary supply produced and maintained by nations across the world is carefully observed and known to be inconsistent.
B. With existing economic models, large scale economic shifts can be predicted with greater accuracy than can relatively local changes in the economy.
C. As existing economic models improve, even small increments in complexity will require large increases in the number of computers required to implement the improved models.
D. Frequent, precise data regarding the decisions of governments and major corporations, as well as accurate predictions regarding upcoming climactic changes, are a prerequisite for constructing an accurate economic model.
E. Irrational human behavior, unexpected natural disasters, and several other processes that also cannot be quantified accurately are known to significantly and continuously affect the economy.
__________________________
CR 2 Research shows that experimental stem cell procedures designed to repair organ damage primarily affect the integrity of the organ tissue rather than the growth of individual cells within the tissue. Therefore, analyzing the effects of such treatments on the health of the individual cells is irrelevant. Rather, the effectiveness of these treatments should only be assessed at the tissue level.
Which of the following would it be most useful to establish in order to evaluate the argument?
A. Whether two methods to measure the integrity of the treated tissue usually give similar judgment
B. Whether the health of individual cells can be effectively analyzed without introducing factors that may impact cell health positively or negatively
C. Whether the health of individual cells affects the integrity of organ tissue
D. Whether some organs can repair comparable levels of damage without the treatment
E. Whether the research has shown that the stem cell procedure effective in treating one organ can repair damage to another organ