Those who think with a hierarchical mentality strive for situations in

Question

Those who think with a hierarchical mentality strive for situations in which their side is dominant and the other side is submissive. In contrast, communal thinkers strive for parity among all sides. Therefore, achieving parity of nuclear weaponry between the East and the West is not enough for Western military generals.

Which one of the following assumptions would provide the most support for the conclusion above?

(A) Western military generals do not have the same mentality as do Eastern military generals.

(B) Parity in nuclear weaponry requires that military generals from both the East and the West think in communal terms.

(C) Western military generals want parity with respect to strength in nuclear weaponry between the East and the West.

(D) Western military generals’ thinking about relative strength in nuclear weaponry is hierarchical.

(E) The thinking of military generals with respect to relative strength in nuclear weaponry is either hierarchical or communal.

DUtkarsh · Answer

IMO D, because if the thinking of Western military generals is not hierarchical, then the parity of nuclear weaponry between East and West should be enough for Western generals.

David nguyen · Answer

What is this saying? I am a little bit confused with the language here. Isn't it saying that achieving parity is not enough for military generals? Well, If it were word this way:"General won't be able to achieve parity", then it would make sense to pick (D).

I don't understand how (D) can be assumed. It only says "NOT ENOUGH". We can't assume that they are hierarchical. We can assume that both sides are communal thinkers. But being a communal thinker is just not enough... Can someone please advise? Thanks a lot.

cathygeorge123 · Answer

Hi David, Looking back at our argument: Those who think with a hierarchical mentality strive for situations in which their side is dominant and the other side is submissive. In contrast, communal thinkers strive for parity among all sides. Therefore, achieving parity of nuclear weaponry between the East and the West is not enough for Western military generals. Pre-thinking: Pre-thinking a bit here helps because the gap in reasoning is pretty evident. Those who think with hierarchical mentality strive for situations that do not ideally strive for parity. Hence Western Military Generals must be part of those who think with hierarchical mentality since they don't hope to achieve parity in the first place. That is why for the topic of nuclear weaponry, these guys want to think hierarchically and hope to achieve situations where one side is dominant and the other is submissive(relative strength in (D)suggests just that). IMHO We cannot say 'they would not be able to achieve' as we are not questioning ABILITY of achieving parity. We are looking into what they WOULD LIKE TO ACHIEVE (strive for) not what they WILL ACHIEVE( something we are not sure of). I hope this helps

unraveled · Answer

Those who think with a hierarchical mentality strive for situations in which their side is dominant and the other side is submissive. In contrast, communal thinkers strive for parity among all sides. Therefore, achieving parity of nuclear weaponry between the East and the West is not enough for Western military generals.

Which one of the following assumptions would provide the most support for the conclusion above?

(A) Western military generals do not have the same mentality as do Eastern military generals. - INCORRECT. We can't be sure whether they think alike or otherwise. Even if we know we can't conclusively say that knowing so supports conclusion of the argument. A number of assumptions have to be made in order for this option to support the conclusion.

(B) Parity in nuclear weaponry requires that military generals from both the East and the West think in communal terms. - INCORRECT. True it may be factually, but how does it helps in leading to conclusion.

(C) Western military generals want parity with respect to strength in nuclear weaponry between the East and the West. - INCORRECT. Goes in the opposite direction actually.

(D) Western military generals’ thinking about relative strength in nuclear weaponry is hierarchical. - CORRECT. Hierarchical and Communal are the two school of thought that is discussed in the passage. If Communal thought achieves parity then hierarchical thought does exactly opposite to that which is what this option elaborates. WMG's hierarchical thought causes its unsatisfaction with parity.

(E) The thinking of military generals with respect to relative strength in nuclear weaponry is either hierarchical or communal. - INCORRECT. Which one it is?! Which one to assume!?

The word 'MOST' in question stem makes it difficult.

Answer D.

Rickooreoisb · Answer

🔎 Step 1 — What’s the Conclusion?

Achieving parity of nuclear weaponry ... is not enough for Western military generals.
So the claim is about what Western generals want.

🔎 Step 2 — What’s the Evidence?

Hierarchical thinkers → want dominance.
Communal thinkers → want parity.

That’s all.

Notice something critical:
The stimulus NEVER said what Western generals are.
That’s the gap

(A)Western generals don’t have same mentality as Eastern generals.
Irrelevant. Nothing depends on Eastern generals.
❌

(B)Parity requires communal thinking.
Irrelevant. We don’t need to know what parity requires.
❌

(C)Western generals want parity.
This contradicts the conclusion.
❌

(D)Western generals’ thinking is hierarchical.
This directly plugs the gap.
If hierarchical → want dominance → parity not enough.

Negate it:
They are not hierarchical → argument collapses.
✅ Correct.

(E) Thinking is either hierarchical or communal.
This creates a binary, but doesn’t tell us which group Western generals belong to.
We still wouldn’t know their type.
❌ Not sufficient

Those who think with a hierarchical mentality strive for situations in

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