June 2003 LSAT Section 3 Question 25

Inflation rates will not stabilize unless the rate of economic growth decreases. Yet in order to slow the economy, th...

JonJay on April 21, 2022

"Overly Optimistic" and Logical Force

Howdy, The stimulus features a phrase in the conclusion of the argument: "overly optimistic". The way I read that phrase is that, in terms of logical force, it is weaker than saying "this necessary condition won't happen". However, in the explanation of the correct answer choice, the commentator equated those two phrases with a parentheses (i.e. won't happen). Can you walk me through the rationale for why these two phrases are equivalent, because in their colloquial usage, they simply do not have the same logical force. Thank you, Jon

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Emil-Kunkin on April 22, 2022

Hi @Jonjay,

I agree there seems to be a bit of a mismatch in the terms "overly optimistic" and "unavoidable." I would probably treat overly optimistic as a synonym for highly unlikely, or not realistic. That is, the phrase suggests that an outcome may still be possible, although it is extremely improbable. However, unavoidable removes any doubt.

This is a case where D is the least bad answer. While I probably would have expected the correct answer to phrase its conclusion more along the lines of "therefore, this good thing is almost certain not to happen," what we get in D is at least directionally correct, and only slightly stronger than the stimulus. More important, none of the other answer choices are even remotely close in structure to the stimulus. D does not feel exactly right, but it is the least wrong.

Ultimately, the question stem asks for the "most closely parallel," and D is still most closely parallel, despite the difference in magnitude.

JonJay on April 23, 2022

Hi Emil,

Thanks again for your responses. They are very helpful.