June 1996 LSAT Section 4 Question 20

There is strong evidence that the cause of migraines (severe recurrent headaches) is not psychological but instead is...

asnyder on May 17 at 06:14PM

Why is B wrong?

Hello! Could someone please explain why B is wrong? I was equating emotional stress and having higher anxiety. Is that too far of a leap? I can see why C is right—and it’s ultimately what I picked—but I’m still having trouble giving myself a good reason as to why I wouldn’t select B if I were to see this question again. If someone is under greater emotional stress (I.e. anxiety), then wouldn’t they be more likely to suffer migraines, according to B? That seems to resolve that paradox in my mind. Thanks!

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Emil-Kunkin on May 17 at 10:09PM

I think the issue with B is that it somewhat contradicts one of the core facts that makes it a paradox to begin with. That it, b seems to tell us that the cause is actually psychological, rather than physiological.

You're completely correct to equate stress and anxiety, those are close enough as the passage is written. The issue with B is that for paradox questions, we want to resolve the tension, or explain why the seemingly weird thing is not actually weird, without undermining the seemingly irreconcilable facts.

I think the best way to visualize it is that we are presented with two things that seem to be in tension; our job is to explain why there is no real tension, but not to eliminate the tension by eliminating one of the facts that creates the possible tension.