Max: Although doing so would be very costly, humans already possess the technology to build colonies on the Moon. As ...

Steph on April 15, 2019

Please explain why A is the right answer and B is not.

shafieiava on February 2, 2020

@JayDee8732 and @Steph I also got this question wrong and chose B. I think what I missed in the stimulus is how "economic incentives" figures in the argument. Economic incentives are what is going to ultimately "push" this big project to be undertaken and the author underestimates the role that these incentives play. This is my guess to why A is correct but clarification from an instructor would be helpful!

fdaniel on July 15, 2020

Can we get some clarification for the questions above please?

The stimulus begins by identifying that such a project would be costly but this does not say that this alone is the reason the project has not begun. This is why I chose B. How do we know that the cost plays a bigger role?

Victoria on July 16, 2020

Hi @JayDee8732, @Steph, @shafieiava, and @fdaniel,

Sorry for the delayed response. Hopefully I can help clear things up a bit!

We are looking for the flaw that Max makes in making their argument.

Max concludes that colonies on the Moon will almost certainly be built and severe overcrowding on Earth will be relieved.

Why? Because, while it would be very costly, humans already possess the technology required to do so and because there will be a growing economic incentive to build the colonies to relieve overcrowding on Earth.

What is the flaw here? Max assumes that the economic incentive to build the colonies will eventually grow to the point that it will make financial sense to build colonies on the Moon.

This is restated by answer choice (A), making it the correct answer.

While the stimulus does not say that the cost is the only reason why the project has not begun, Max argues that, despite this cost, the growing economic incentive means that it is almost certain that such colonies will be built on the Moon. @shafieiava, the author overestimates the role that these incentives will play i.e. they assume that the incentives will eventually outweigh the cost, making building colonies on the Moon financially feasible.

Answer choice (B) is incorrect because it is too strong. Max does not argue that the only way to relieve overcrowding on Earth is to build colonies on the Moon; rather, they note that, as time progresses, there will be an increasing economic incentive to build these colonies as one possible way to house some of Earth's population.

Hope this is helpful! Please let us know if you have any further questions.

Andrew on March 10, 2021

@Victoria, I was also really tempted with answer choice B. Can you tell me where in the stimulus says that Max believes there are other ways to relieve overcrowding on Earth? Is it the part in the stimulus that says, "almost certainly"?

Victoria on April 13, 2021

Hi @Andrew,

Happy to help!

We do not need to prove that Max believes there are other ways to relieve overcrowding on Earth. The issue with answer choice (B) is that Max does not make this argument nor does his argument rely on this assumption.

The vulnerable assumption upon which Max's argument rests is the assumption that the economic incentive will eventually grow to outweigh the cost, making it almost certain that the colonies will be built.

In other words, this answer is incorrect because there is no indication that Max believes that this is the only way to relieve overcrowding on Earth. Therefore, we cannot assume that his argument rests on this assumption.

Hope this helps! Sorry this took me so long to get to. My notifications have been acting up for a while now. Please let us know if you have any further questions!