June 2019 LSAT Section 2 Question 11

Unlike other mechanical devices, the clock did not evolve from the simple to the complex. The earliest clocks were al...

chelsea1 on November 11, 2021

Why i didn't pick d

I think I understand now, but D discouraged me from picking because of the "some more recent clocks." I would have thought that it made a jump in comparison by using 'recent' clocks instead of 'early' clocks. But I guess it would have to compare with recent clocks because there were no early clocks that were just clocks because they were used for another function. also, is C wrong because it's too strong of a statement? I liked C because it seemed to represent what the stimulus started off with which was that clocks are unlike most mechanical devices. If they didn't get more complex over time, unlike most mechanical devices, isn't it safe to conclude that they are similar in their complexity?

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Jay-Etter on January 19, 2022

Let's start by breaking down the stimulus.
So we know:
1)clocks evolved from the complex to the simple
2)the earliest clocks were the most complicated
3)early clocks were used mostly to predict astronomical phenomena, rather than modern ones which primarily for timekeeping
4) the mechanism in early clocks for predicting astronomical phenomena also kept track of time

We wouldn't choose C because we don't know anything about time-keeping clocks other than the fact they are the primary purpose of more recent clocks. (for example think about clocks today: we have simple wall clocks, and we also have rolex watches that keep track of time to the second).

D is right because the earlier clocks, which primarily were used for astronomical phenomena, were more complicated than recent clocks which are primarily used for timekeeping. We also know the most complicated clocks were the earliest ones (also the ones used for astronomy) and therefore the earliest ones have to be more complicated than at least some modern ones.
Hope this helps!