Having Fun with Logical Reasoning Flaws in Everyday Life
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Okay, so maybe “having fun” is a stretch. And okay, that’s definitely a stretch—not maybe a stretch.
But an effective way to prepare for the Logical Reasoning portions of the LSAT is to practice your Logical Reasoning skills outside of the LSAT context.
So let’s play a game: you read an opinion piece about Star Wars: The Last Jedi and compare your Logical Reasoning flaw thoughts against mine!
(By the time you’re reading this post, The Last Jedi will have been out for at least a month. Still, I feel it’s only fair to say that you will read spoilers if you continue!!!! Seriously, turn away now if you haven’t seen the movie yet.)
So here’s a piece about the varying responses to the movie I read a week or so ago. If you haven’t yet, glance through Chapter 4 of the Logical Reasoning Strategy Guide.
Here’s a link to the piece—enjoy!
Okay, so here are some that I found…
1) Appeal to Authority
The author of this piece recognizes the potential pitfalls of an appeal to authority argument. Whose opinion should you, a movie-goer, trust? A critic’s? Or a fan’s? And which critic or which fan? I found this element in the discussion of the divide between critical appreciation and fan appreciation in the first 5 paragraphs.
2) Sampling Flaw
In the “Let’s Start Here…” portion of the piece, the author acknowledges the possibility of a sampling flaw.
3) Causation Flaws
I hope this one was fairly easy to spot! In fact, on the LSAT, if a Logical Reasoning prompt or answer choice actually uses the word “cause,” you can be sure there is a causation element to the argument!
4) And Here’s One More…
That I can describe, even if I don’t have an exact label for it. It’s a niche flaw, one that has elements of causation: the assumption that a relationship that was true in the past might be (or will be) true in the present/future. You find this in the author’s comparison of fan response to Empire Strikes Back to fan response to the latest film.
These are some of mine. There’s a smattering of false choice elements in there, too—does the film merit the love/hate dichotomy? Why couldn’t it fall somewhere in between? Hopefully, if you read with a critical eye, you found some others I haven’t mentioned.
This is one example of how you can practice the Logical Reasoning mindset in your everyday life. Apply it to something that interests you!
Good luck!
Oh, and just for the record: I thought The Last Jedi was fantastic; I loved how it paid tribute to its origins (there are many, many Empire parallels) while still clearly laying foundations for a new story, one that diverges from the general Star Wars tropes.
And one last thought: if you’re looking for real food for Logical Reasoning practice, look to news coverage of politics. But be careful! Once you go through that looking glass (or stare into that abyss, depending on whether you want Lewis Carroll or Friedrich Nietzsche), you won’t come back… ?
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Chris Gentry is a Manhattan Prep LSAT, GMAT, and GRE instructor who lives in Atlanta, Georgia. Chris received his Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering from Clemson and JD from Emory University School of Law before realizing that he genuinely enjoys the challenge of standardized tests, and his true passion is teaching. Chris’ dual-pronged approach to understanding each test question has helped countless of his students to achieve their goal scores. What are you waiting for? Check out Chris’ upcoming LSAT courses here.