December 1991 LSAT Section 4 Question 6

When machines are invented and technologies are developed, they alter the range of choices open to us. The clock, for...

rswafra on August 3, 2022

"Liberate" threw me off

I picked D, and I felt like it called out specific language from the stimulus (increase in productivity) and can now see that the value judgement "not worth our dependence on the clock" was too strong. But I also felt like A was too strong? I could see "enslave" as "being tied to the clock" but don't see how "increased productivity" is "liberating"? Can someone help explain this one?

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Emil-Kunkin on August 5, 2022

Hi Rswafra,

I agree that A feels much stronger than we would have expected, but it is directionally correct. While it is a leap from loss of freedom to enslavement, and from opening up avenues to liberation, both are conceivable, albeit weird, things to equate.

I think the best approach to this is to see B-E as wrong.

B and D both include value judgements, they are prescriptive, which the scenario does not illustrate.
C is wrong as the clock did bring about improvement.
E is wrong because we know nothing about most tech, the clock is just one example of productivity and synchronization.