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Re: Some scientists, who today are recognized for their brilliance, were [#permalink]
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Some scientists, who today are recognized for their brilliance, were once vilified for their work and considered insane during their lifetimes. It therefore follows that what is considered insane or not insane has changed over time.

Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

Works of science that are that are considered insane change the way in which the general public defines 'insanity.'
The number of things that are considered insane has decreased with the passage of time.
Public opinion does not determine the validity of scientific research.
Not all scientists who were once considered insane are still considered insane today.
Some scientists who are considered insane today were also considered insane in the past


The previous one was locked

Originally posted by akadmin on 04 Jan 2016, 17:45.
Last edited by Bunuel on 05 Nov 2018, 05:47, edited 2 times in total.
Edited the question.
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Re: Some scientists, who today are recognized for their brilliance, were [#permalink]
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D it is : Not all scientists who were once considered insane are still considered insane today.

negate D : all scientists who were once considered insane are still considered insane today.----->this breaks the conclusion, which states "what is considered insane or not insane has changed over time"

negate E: NONE of the scientists who are considered insane today were also considered insane in the past---->this supports the conclusion !!
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Re: Some scientists, who today are recognized for their brilliance, were [#permalink]
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techiesam wrote:
VeritasPrepKarishma wrote:
akadmin wrote:
Some scientists, who today are recognized for their brilliance, were once vilified for their work and considered insane during their lifetimes. It therefore follows that what is considered insane or not insane has changed over time.

Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

Works of science that are that are considered insane change the way in which the general public defines 'insanity.'
The number of things that are considered insane has decreased with the passage of time.
Public opinion does not determine the validity of scientific research.
Not all scientists who were once considered insane are still considered insane today.
Some scientists who are considered insane today were also considered insane in the past


The previous one was locked


Responding to a pm:

It is an assumption question. It means you are looking for a gap between premises and conclusion. The premises are not enough to take you to the conclusion. You NEED the answer option to reach the conclusion. So the first thing we need to do is chalk out our premises and conclusion.

Premises:
Some scientists are recognized for their brilliance today.
They were once vilified for their work and considered insane during their lifetimes.

Conclusion:
What is considered insane or not insane has changed over time.

Now here is the catch. the premises say that some scientists were considered insane during their lifetime. They are being recognised as brilliant now. The premises do not say that they are not considered insane now - only that they are considered brilliant now. Note that we cannot assume that brilliance and insanity are mutually exclusive traits. Brilliant people can be considered insane too aka "mad scientists" :).

To say that what is considered insane has changed over time, we are assuming that some of those scientists who were thought to be insane are not considered insane anymore.

Option (D) tells you this: Not all scientists who were once considered insane are still considered insane today.
So this is the correct answer.

All other options are just confusing or plain irrelevant.


VeritasPrepKarishma

Maam with all due respect,don't you think D would have been right if it were a "must be true question".Because option D is just a paraphrase of the first line.But if we negate option A then we find out that if a scientific work is tagged insane and can't be changed then the hole argument falls apart.


My explanation given above clarifies why (D) is not the same as the first line of the argument. "Brilliant" and "insane" are not mutually exclusive. Hence, you need (D) to establish that what is considered sane has changed over time.

(A) Works of science that are that are considered insane change the way in which the general public defines 'insanity.'
Negated (A) Works of science that are considered insane do not change the way in which the general public defines 'insanity.'
This says that "works" have no effect on the definition of insanity.

But our conclusion is "what is considered insane or not insane has changed over time."
Even if the works have no effect on the definition of insanity, something else could have changed it. So this doesn't break down the conclusion.
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Re: Some scientists, who today are recognized for their brilliance, were [#permalink]
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Why not (B)?

Negation of B: The number of things that are considered insane has NOT decreased with the passage of time.

If it hasn't decreased, then what is considered insane or not insane has NOT changed over time.

The argument does fall apart. Can anyone explain on this?
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Re: Some scientists, who today are recognized for their brilliance, were [#permalink]
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Rukia wrote:
jkbk1732 wrote:
Why not (B)?

Negation of B: The number of things that are considered insane has NOT decreased with the passage of time.

If it hasn't decreased, then what is considered insane or not insane has NOT changed over time.

The argument does fall apart. Can anyone explain on this?



I have this same doubt. Hope someone can answer this.


A couple of things here. The term "things" is too vague and too broad here and that should be enough to rule out the option. And if you want to dive into it more, We are concerned with the standard and not the number of things. Maybe the standards were strict earlier but the things didn't exist or the standards are stricter today but the things don't exist. My point is that is impossible to correlate standard with the number of things. Eg - You can't say that just because we have more inter country travel today as compared to probably centuries ago, we say that the standards/rules of traveling have relaxed. It could be due to money, technology, etc.
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Re: Some scientists, who today are recognized for their brilliance, were [#permalink]
VeritasPrepKarishma wrote:
akadmin wrote:
Some scientists, who today are recognized for their brilliance, were once vilified for their work and considered insane during their lifetimes. It therefore follows that what is considered insane or not insane has changed over time.

Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

Works of science that are that are considered insane change the way in which the general public defines 'insanity.'
The number of things that are considered insane has decreased with the passage of time.
Public opinion does not determine the validity of scientific research.
Not all scientists who were once considered insane are still considered insane today.
Some scientists who are considered insane today were also considered insane in the past


The previous one was locked


Responding to a pm:

It is an assumption question. It means you are looking for a gap between premises and conclusion. The premises are not enough to take you to the conclusion. You NEED the answer option to reach the conclusion. So the first thing we need to do is chalk out our premises and conclusion.

Premises:
Some scientists are recognized for their brilliance today.
They were once vilified for their work and considered insane during their lifetimes.

Conclusion:
What is considered insane or not insane has changed over time.

Now here is the catch. the premises say that some scientists were considered insane during their lifetime. They are being recognised as brilliant now. The premises do not say that they are not considered insane now - only that they are considered brilliant now. Note that we cannot assume that brilliance and insanity are mutually exclusive traits. Brilliant people can be considered insane too aka "mad scientists" :).

To say that what is considered insane has changed over time, we are assuming that some of those scientists who were thought to be insane are not considered insane anymore.

Option (D) tells you this: Not all scientists who were once considered insane are still considered insane today.
So this is the correct answer.

All other options are just confusing or plain irrelevant.


VeritasPrepKarishma

Maam with all due respect,don't you think D would have been right if it were a "must be true question".Because option D is just a paraphrase of the first line.But if we negate option A then we find out that if a scientific work is tagged insane and can't be changed then the hole argument falls apart.
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Re: Some scientists, who today are recognized for their brilliance, were [#permalink]
The argument is that what is considered insane or not insane has changed over time.
This is based on the fact that some scientists who were once vilified for their work and considered insane are now recognised for their brilliance.

What is an assumption?

A is incorrect because it may not need to be true that the cause of the change in what is perceived as insane is the scientists' works, but perhaps the scientists themselves.
Second, it may simply just be the case that the public's perception / values have changed.

B - the # of insane things is irrelevant to the conception of current insanity versus previous insanity.

C - similarly. The validity of research is for all we know irrelevant to the definition of insanity.

D - must be true. In fact its almost restating the premise here. D basically says that some scientists are no longer considered insane, thus what is considered insane/ not insane must have changed.

E - E is the converse. We know that in one direction some scientists no longer considered insane today were considered insane in the past, so we don't need to know that some scientists considered insane in the past are still considered insane today.
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Re: Some scientists, who today are recognized for their brilliance, were [#permalink]
jkbk1732 wrote:
Why not (B)?

Negation of B: The number of things that are considered insane has NOT decreased with the passage of time.

If it hasn't decreased, then what is considered insane or not insane has NOT changed over time.

The argument does fall apart. Can anyone explain on this?



I have this same doubt. Hope someone can answer this.
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Some scientists, who today are recognized for their brilliance, were [#permalink]
KarishmaB - can you tell me how will you negate option D and option E? What would the negated sentences look like? Thanks.

KarishmaB wrote:
akadmin wrote:
Some scientists, who today are recognized for their brilliance, were once vilified for their work and considered insane during their lifetimes. It therefore follows that what is considered insane or not insane has changed over time.

Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

Works of science that are that are considered insane change the way in which the general public defines 'insanity.'
The number of things that are considered insane has decreased with the passage of time.
Public opinion does not determine the validity of scientific research.
Not all scientists who were once considered insane are still considered insane today.
Some scientists who are considered insane today were also considered insane in the past


The previous one was locked


Responding to a pm:

It is an assumption question. It means you are looking for a gap between premises and conclusion. The premises are not enough to take you to the conclusion. You NEED the answer option to reach the conclusion. So the first thing we need to do is chalk out our premises and conclusion.

Premises:
Some scientists are recognized for their brilliance today.
They were once vilified for their work and considered insane during their lifetimes.

Conclusion:
What is considered insane or not insane has changed over time.

Now here is the catch. the premises say that some scientists were considered insane during their lifetime. They are being recognised as brilliant now. The premises do not say that they are not considered insane now - only that they are considered brilliant now. Note that we cannot assume that brilliance and insanity are mutually exclusive traits. Brilliant people can be considered insane too aka "mad scientists" :).

To say that what is considered insane has changed over time, we are assuming that some of those scientists who were thought to be insane are not considered insane anymore.

Option (D) tells you this: Not all scientists who were once considered insane are still considered insane today.
So this is the correct answer.

All other options are just confusing or plain irrelevant.
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Some scientists, who today are recognized for their brilliance, were [#permalink]
To make the question easy, "10 scientists were considered insane in the past. It therefore follows that what is considered insane or not insane has changed over time."
Assumption 1. Some scientists who were considered insane in the past are no longer considered insane.

Previously scientists were called insane because of their works and Inferences. So, for them not to be called insane anymore something about the way work is seen should have changed or the definition of what qualifies as 'insanity' should have changed.
Assumption 2. The way a scientist's work is evaluated has not changed.

(A) Works of science that are considered insane change the way in which the general public defines 'insanity.' Irrelavant
(B) The number of things that are considered insane has decreased with the passage of time. No.of things has no bearing on the conclusion
(C) Public opinion does not determine the validity of scientific research. Irrelevant
(D) Not all scientists who were once considered insane are still considered insane today. Assumption 1
(E) Some scientists who are considered insane today were also considered insane in the past. Tricky but irrelevant
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Some scientists, who today are recognized for their brilliance, were [#permalink]
Expert Reply
kittle wrote:
KarishmaB - can you tell me how will you negate option D and option E? What would the negated sentences look like? Thanks.

KarishmaB wrote:
akadmin wrote:
Some scientists, who today are recognized for their brilliance, were once vilified for their work and considered insane during their lifetimes. It therefore follows that what is considered insane or not insane has changed over time.

Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

Works of science that are that are considered insane change the way in which the general public defines 'insanity.'
The number of things that are considered insane has decreased with the passage of time.
Public opinion does not determine the validity of scientific research.
Not all scientists who were once considered insane are still considered insane today.
Some scientists who are considered insane today were also considered insane in the past


The previous one was locked


Responding to a pm:

It is an assumption question. It means you are looking for a gap between premises and conclusion. The premises are not enough to take you to the conclusion. You NEED the answer option to reach the conclusion. So the first thing we need to do is chalk out our premises and conclusion.

Premises:
Some scientists are recognized for their brilliance today.
They were once vilified for their work and considered insane during their lifetimes.

Conclusion:
What is considered insane or not insane has changed over time.

Now here is the catch. the premises say that some scientists were considered insane during their lifetime. They are being recognised as brilliant now. The premises do not say that they are not considered insane now - only that they are considered brilliant now. Note that we cannot assume that brilliance and insanity are mutually exclusive traits. Brilliant people can be considered insane too aka "mad scientists" :).

To say that what is considered insane has changed over time, we are assuming that some of those scientists who were thought to be insane are not considered insane anymore.

Option (D) tells you this: Not all scientists who were once considered insane are still considered insane today.
So this is the correct answer.

All other options are just confusing or plain irrelevant.


(D) Not all scientists who were once considered insane are still considered insane today.
Negated (D): All scientists who were once considered insane are still considered insane today.

If this is true, how can we say that what is considered insane/sane has changed? The conclusion breaks.
So option (D) is an assumption.

(E) Some scientists who are considered insane today were also considered insane in the past.
Negated (E): All scientists who are considered insane today were also considered insane in the past.

This tells us that if A, B and C are considered insane today, they were considered insane in the past too. But the point is were there X, Y and Z who were considered insane in the past but are not considered insane today? May be. So the conclusion can survive.
Perhaps some who were considered insane in the past are considered sane now and perhaps others who were considered insane in the past are still insane now. Hence our conclusion could still stand.
Not an assumption.
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Some scientists, who today are recognized for their brilliance, were [#permalink]
HarveyS wrote:
Some scientists, who today are recognized for their brilliance, were once vilified for their work and considered insane during their lifetimes. It therefore follows that what is considered insane or not insane has changed over time.

Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?


(A) Works of science that are considered insane change the way in which the general public defines 'insanity.'

(B) The number of things that are considered insane has decreased with the passage of time.

(C) Public opinion does not determine the validity of scientific research.

(D) Not all scientists who were once considered insane are still considered insane today.

(E) Some scientists who are considered insane today were also considered insane in the past.



This is my first contribution so I might be wrong but I want to share my approach.

let's say we have 10 scientists. Out of which 4 are insane now (the rest 6 are not insane). Later, 2 of them(out of 4) were considered brilliant. We don not know whether they we later considered insane,briliant or anything else.

b) The number of things that are considered insane has decreased with the passage of time.
cannot say. because people's opinion about the other 6 may or may not change

d)Not all scientists who were once considered insane are still considered insane today.
we can say this. Because earlier 4 were insane but now only 2.

e)Some scientists who are considered insane today were also considered insane in the past
cannot say. because people's opinion about the other 6 may or may not change
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