The first bicycle, the Draisienne, was invented in 1817. A brief fad e

Question

The first bicycle, the Draisienne, was invented in 1817. A brief fad ensued, after which bicycles practically disappeared until the 1860s. Why was this? New technology is accepted only when it coheres with the values of a society. Hence some change in values must have occurred between 1817 and the 1860s.

The reasoning in the argument is flawed because the argument

(A) presumes, without giving justification, that fads are never indicative of genuine acceptance

(B) fails to recognize that the reappearance of bicycles in the 1860s may have indicated genuine acceptance of them

(C) offers no support for the claim that the Draisienne was the first true bicycle

(D) poses a question that has little relevance to the argument's conclusion

(E) ignores, without giving justification, alternative possible explanations of the initial failure of bicycles

Bunuel · Accepted Answer

EXPLANATION FROM Fox LSAT

This argument is flawed because it confuses a sufficient condition with a necessary condition. It’s  necessary  that a new technology “cohere with the values of a society” in order for it to be accepted:

Accepted —> Coheres
(contrapositive): 
  Coheres  —> Accepted

Okay, so, we’re told that the bicycle wasn’t accepted initially. But this does  not  mean that it didn’t cohere.  The arrow only goes one way . Perhaps the bicycle wasn’t accepted initially because it had that ridiculous gigantic front tire. Maybe people just didn’t want to look silly. Or perhaps it wasn’t accepted because it had steel tires. How would that have felt on your ass after a long day of riding? Here, the argument assumes that the bicycle wasn’t accepted  because it didn’t cohere . But it could have been unaccepted for many different reasons. That’s the flaw.

A) We’re looking for something very specific, and this ain’t it.

B) What? Again, this isn’t what we’re looking for.

C) Not even close.

D) Not even close.

E) Boom. Alternative explanations (big-ass front tire, tires made out of metal) have been ignored. This is it.

Some of you may say, “But what’s wrong with A (or B or C or D)?” But that’s not the proper inquiry here. I frankly don’t give a **** what A, B, C or D might mean. On a question like this, you should be able to positively identify the correct answer by recognizing the flaw  before you look at the answer choices . The incorrect answer choices here are wrong  because E is exactly the flaw we were looking for . To properly review this question, all you need to do is understand why E is conclusively right. Don’t bother trying to decipher the incorrect answers, which are really just distractions.

Our answer is E.

Sumi1010 · Answer

Note:  This problem tests the Essential  For  Necessary (E --> N) Relationship.
Essential is unavoidable.

Necessary(N) happens,  only when  Essential (E) happens. 
Thus, 
- if Necessary(N) happened, Essential(E) must have happened.
- If Necessary (N) did not happen, Essential (E) is not to be blamed alone(Possibly, other factors did not happen)
- If Essential(E) happened, Necessary (N) may or may not happen (considering all other factors happened)
- If Essential (E) did NOT happen, Necessary (N) won't happen.

New technology is accepted  only when  it coheres with the values of a society(Essential) 
= 
- If the technology coheres with the values of a society, it may or maynot be accepted. 
- If the technology does not cohere with the values of a society,it CAN'T be accepted.

However, if the technology could not be accepted, this does not mean the technology did not  certainly  cohere with the values of a society (there could be another factors).

The argument ignored the other factors in the conclusion. 
Clearly, choice  E .

100mitra · Answer

Correct Option E

Premise : The first bicycle, the Draisienne, was invented in 1817. 
 Gap : Why? A brief fad ensued, after which bicycles practically disappeared until the 1860s.Why was this? 
 Argument : New technology is accepted only when it coheres with the values of a society. 
 Conclusion : Hence some change in values must have occurred between 1817 and the 1860s.
 Assumption : No any other cause has led to failure of 1st invention of cycle, which made some changes in value than values of society.

The reasoning in the argument is  flawed because the argument

(A) presumes, without giving justification, that fads are never indicative of genuine acceptance
 Wrong : indicative of genuine acceptance - makes it irrelevant, because other acceptance can also be made possible.

(B) fails to recognize that the reappearance of bicycles in the 1860s may have indicated genuine acceptance of them
 Wrong : it strengthen the conclusion, dated 1860 acceptance, and failure in 1817

(C) offers no support for the claim that the Draisienne was the first true bicycle
 Wrong : It is not about Draisienne , it's about Why socity didn't acceptance in 1817 and it did in 1860

(D) poses a question that has little relevance to the argument's conclusion
 Wrong : No question!

(E) ignores, without giving justification, alternative possible explanations of the initial failure of bicycles
 Correct : this stem focus on alternative possibility explanation, raise question on argument

sivatx2 · Answer

The first bicycle in 1817 had a brief fad success.(why was this successful briefly, did had society's values???)
 after that practically disappeared until 1860s. 
Reason: New technology is accepted only based on society's values. 
=>Changes in values occurred between 1817 & 1860s.
 Flaw could be:
1. Assumes that the no other factor could influence except the society's values to accept the bicycles.
2. Why values remained the same between 1817 & 1860s but there were few external factors, like design, cost, availability, raw materials, etc could have caused the failure.

(A) presumes, without giving justification, that fads are never indicative of genuine acceptance 
 "Never" is extreme, argument indicates that fad may not be a genuine acceptance. Eliminate

(B) fails to recognize that the reappearance of bicycles in the 1860s may have indicated genuine acceptance of them 
 This concurs with the argument that in 1860s there was acceptance, but we are looking for the flaw in the reasoning. Eliminate.

(C) offers no support for the claim that the Draisienne was the first true bicycle 
 This is irrelevant to the argument reasoning. Eliminate

(D) poses a question that has little relevance to the argument's conclusion 
 No, the flaw is that the reasoning is incorrect, but it is relevant to the conclusion. Eliminate

(E) ignores, without giving justification, alternative possible explanations of the initial failure of bicycles 
 Yes, this is same as our analysis earlier. So the correct answer choice is E .

The first bicycle, the Draisienne, was invented in 1817. A brief fad e

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The first bicycle, the Draisienne, was invented in 1817. A brief fad e

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