Faulty Logic; It's the Author, not You

Since logic--especially informal logic--is at the root critical thinking, it makes sense that standardized tests like the LSAT, GRE, GMAT, and SAT--which focus on critical thinking skills--would test it extensively. Therefore, it's important that you be on the lookout for logical inconsistencies as you read the complex materials on those tests.

For LSAT, GRE, and GMAT students, learning to look for and identify (and sometimes repair) logical fallacies is often easier than it is for SAT students. This isn't difficult to understand; LSAT students are preparing for a career in law, an inherently adversarial vocation. GMAT takers are preparing to become managers who will have to cope with massive amounts of sometimes-contradictory information and sort the reliable from the unreliable. In those professions, being able to discern both rationally and intuitively who is telling the truth and who is lying is a necessity as much as an asset. Even those who don't plan on practicing in the more adversarial areas of law, business, and academia often have the advantage of at least being older and more experienced (i.e., cynical) about the ways of the world.

High school students studying for the SAT, on the other hand, have quite likely never been asked--at least in an academic setting--to evaluate whether the arguments they're examining are logically solid or not. In high school, had I ever questioned the reasoning of an assigned author, I probably would have been castigated, if not punished outright. I was expected to memorize what I was assigned to read, and to repeat it back if asked on a test or in class. Analysis did not figure into the equation.

That's why, in my SAT Critical Reading classes, I like to work slowly through the passages, asking students to concentrate less on what the authors are saying, and on how they construct their arguments. Often in those classes, students miss common logical flaws simply because those flaws have never been pointed out to them.

Remember that Kaplan's critical reading method--like most Kaplan methods--may slow you down the first few times you use it. But as you become more experienced with using the methods, your speed and accuracy begin to improve dramatically. The most fundamental piece of advice I can give is this: If something seems wrong with the argument, it probably is. Don't presume that you're not following the author's logic correctly; it's equally likely that the argument is illogical, and that you'll have to recognize its flaws in order to answer the questions.

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・【Informal Logic】2010.05.19 (Wed)