Q22 - Only an expert in some

[cyruswhittaker]

For this question, is the last sentence "Patrick wants..." basically irrelevant?

My line of thinking for choice E is that since Charles is certain, he can't be an expert (necessary condition stated in sentence 2), and since he can't be an expert, he can't understand why Patrick is behaving irrationaly (necessary condition in sentence 1). Is this correct?

[bbirdwell]

Yep, that's good reasoning for (E).

As for the last sentence, it turns out to be irrelevant to the correct answer, but we could not have predicted this in the beginning. It's suspect, though, because "wants to devise...to his own problem..." doesn't match up with either of the other statements, which clearly have a common link in the term "expert."

[cyruswhittaker]

Thanks for the explanation. I'm trying to see these quicker because I'm still running out of time for the last 1-2 questions.

[justindebouvier7]

In an attempt to explain this thought process formally for myself, hopefully this may help others in the future. The argument can be diagrammed in the following manner:

UPI--->E---> ~SSP.

Via the contrapositive

SSP---> ~E---> ~UPI

Since this is a must be true question, the answer will most likely lie somewhere within the chain best expressed in answer choice E.

Formal notation Key:
UPI: Understanding Patrick's Irrational.
E: Expert.
SSP: Solve someone's problem.

[ghorizon09]

This is how I diagrammed it:

If U (understand) then E (Expert)

u---->E

If Expert then not certain

E ----> /C

Using the transitive property we can conclude (a-->b, b-->c therefore A=C) or in our case if U then E if E then /C, so if U then /C.

If U ----> /C

Answer Choice (E) Is the contrapositive, which is: if C -----> /U (If certain then not understand)

Hope this helps