October 2002 LSAT Section 2 Question 18

If Feng is hired for a position in the same department as Xavier, then each of the following could be true EXCEPT:

ishadoshi on May 25, 2020

Differences in logic game rules

How do you define between a conditional and a block rule? I know that 'if' indicates a conditional statement, but can it ever be that a statement that usually defines a block needs to actually be interpreted as a conditional statement? For example, in this case it said that H always goes with Y, and instead of directly interpreting that HY is a block, I went on to write it as an if then statement, which although can be written like that, confused me even more. I hope I'm explaining my question clearly, not sure if I'm making sense the way I've explained it. Let me know! Thanks!

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ishadoshi on May 25, 2020

And I did the same with the F and G rule too. Instead of interpreting that F and G can never go together and therefore can never form a block, I went on to convert into an if and then statement.

BenMingov on May 28, 2020

Hi Ishadoshi, thanks for the question.

You raise an interesting point. For group games, there is often an interchangeability between conditional and block rules. It really boils down to preference. I would say be careful with one point. If all of the variables are to be selected and the scenario says this concretely, then you can use blocks without concern. However, if a certain number of variables of the whole are used then it is imperative to write it as a conditional rule, because we do not know that a specific variable will be chosen. Placing a rule as a block would remove the option of those variables not being chosen.

The reason it worked so well in this game to use the blocks is that all variables were chosen, therefore saying if H, then Y is unnecessary because we know H is chosen.

I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any other questions.