Home LSAT Prep LSAT Message Board
November 2018 LSAT Section 1 Question 5

Many fictional works have characters who are supposedly precognitive-that is, able to accurately perceive future even...

c0cald01 on January 5, 2022

only if

Is this a good way to look at conditional logic? In a necessary assumption question and other questions that contain conditional logic, if there is only one answer choice with conditional logic in it, would it be advisable to pick that answer. For instance, on this question, I feel that only A contains conditional logic.

Replies
Create a free account to read and take part in forum discussions.

Already have an account? log in

jakennedy on January 13, 2022

Hi @c0cald01,

Great question. I, too, am always looking for shortcuts on the LSAT to make my life easier.

While many of them exist, I would be careful in assuming that the answer choice must contain conditional logic even if the stimulus does. Depending on the stimulus and the question type, you could find yourself in such a situation, but as a general rule, you should not make such an assumption unless there is an obvious gap that needs to be bridged. It is acceptable, however, to prioritize answer choices that contain conditional logic if the stimulus includes sufficient and necessary statements.

Oftentimes, the answer choices may appear to not be conditional when they are. In this question, in particular, you could diagram B and E as follows:

B.
Perceive future events accurately ? NOT absolute consistency
absolute consistency ? NOT perceive future events accurately

E.
Work of fiction ? NOT portrayed a truly precognitive character
portrayed a truly precognitive character ? NOT a work of fiction

Additionally, answer choices C and D can be diagrammed with quantifiers. The word "often" in answer choice C could be a "some" statement, and "generally" in answer choice D could be a "most" statement.

It can be difficult to identify conditional statements that are disguised in these ways. I recommend first memorizing all of the sufficient and necessary indicators. In answer choice E, for example, the word "no" indicated to me that it was a conditional statement. After that, study questions similar to this one to get more comfortable identifying conditional logic.

Hope this helps!

jakennedy on January 13, 2022

Hi @c0cald01,

Great question. I, too, am always looking for shortcuts on the LSAT to make my life easier.

While many of them exist, I would be careful in assuming that the answer choice must contain conditional logic even if the stimulus does. Depending on the stimulus and the question type, you could find yourself in such a situation, but as a general rule, you should not make such an assumption unless there is an obvious gap that needs to be bridged. It is acceptable, however, to prioritize answer choices that contain conditional logic if the stimulus includes sufficient and necessary statements.

Oftentimes, the answer choices may appear to not be conditional when they are. In this question, in particular, you could diagram B and E as follows:

B.
Perceive future events accurately ? NOT absolute consistency
absolute consistency ? NOT perceive future events accurately

E.
Work of fiction ? NOT portrayed a truly precognitive character
portrayed a truly precognitive character ? NOT a work of fiction

Additionally, answer choices C and D can be diagrammed with quantifiers. The word "often" in answer choice C could be a "some" statement, and "generally" in answer choice D could be a "most" statement.

It can be difficult to identify conditional statements that are disguised in these ways. I recommend first memorizing all of the sufficient and necessary indicators. In answer choice E, for example, the word "no" indicated to me that it was a conditional statement. After that, study questions similar to this one to get more comfortable identifying conditional logic.

Hope this helps!