Q23 - Problem: If Shayna congratulates Daniel on his award,

[michellerozenblyum]

Can someone explain how to arrive at the correct answer?

[sumukh09]

The principle says it's never okay for a person to be insincere about one's feelings except in situations where the person has reason to believe that the person to whom those feelings are being expressed to would prefer kindness to honesty.

In this case, Shayna would have to have a belief about Daniel's preferences of kindness to honesty

You can cross of A - D right off the bat because the answer choices don't indicate whether Shayna knows what Daniel prefers, and E is the only answer choice that mentions what Shayna believes about Daniel's preferences ie) whether he prefers kindness to honesty + the principle also mentions that one should NEVER be insincere about one's feelings, so Shayna should not congratulate him since she has no opinion about whether Daniel prefers to kindness to honesty, and since she has no opinion, then the exception does not apply in this case, so she should not be insincere about her feelings and therefore should not congratulate him.

[benjamin.w.richmond]

The principle says it's never okay for a person to be insincere about one's feelings except in situations where the person has reason to believe that the person to whom those feelings are being expressed to would prefer kindness to honesty.

In this case, Shayna would have to have a belief about Daniel's preferences of kindness to honesty

In tests of upwards of 60 I'm seeing this more and more, an emphasis on belief vs. fact.

Thanks for the explanation, I kept missing the belief idea here.

[cacrv]

The principle says it's never okay for a person to be insincere about one's feelings except in situations where the person has reason to believe that the person to whom those feelings are being expressed to would prefer kindness to honesty.

In this case, Shayna would have to have a belief about Daniel's preferences of kindness to honesty

You can cross of A - D right off the bat because the answer choices don't indicate whether Shayna knows what Daniel prefers, and E is the only answer choice that mentions what Shayna believes about Daniel's preferences ie) whether he prefers kindness to honesty + the principle also mentions that one should NEVER be insincere about one's feelings, so Shayna should not congratulate him since she has no opinion about whether Daniel prefers to kindness to honesty, and since she has no opinion, then the exception does not apply in this case, so she should not be insincere about her feelings and therefore should not congratulate him.

Doesn't C kind of allude that Shayna does believe that Daniel would prefer kindness to honesty, because she believes that as a general rule when speaking to others? I get that C makes it sound more like Shayna herself has this particular preference, but I felt that the subtleties were similar enough - I'd appreciate any clarification with C. Thanks!

[pmonzon83]

Can we get one of the Geeks to post a breakdown?

[maryadkins]

The principle says it's never okay for a person to be insincere about one's feelings except in situations where the person has reason to believe that the person to whom those feelings are being expressed to would prefer kindness to honesty.

In this case, Shayna would have to have a belief about Daniel's preferences of kindness to honesty

You can cross of A - D right off the bat because the answer choices don't indicate whether Shayna knows what Daniel prefers, and E is the only answer choice that mentions what Shayna believes about Daniel's preferences ie) whether he prefers kindness to honesty + the principle also mentions that one should NEVER be insincere about one's feelings, so Shayna should not congratulate him since she has no opinion about whether Daniel prefers to kindness to honesty, and since she has no opinion, then the exception does not apply in this case, so she should not be insincere about her feelings and therefore should not congratulate him.

This is an excellent breakdown of this question.

I agree with a previous poster that it feels like the LSAT is bringing up this "subjective versus objective" thing more often these days. So that's something to look out for. In this question, the principle hinges on WHAT SHAYNA THINKS about what Daniel thinks. That's the only exception, the only way out, so to speak, from the absolute rule that one should never be insincere.

If Shayna HAS no beliefs about what Daniel thinks, she has to follow the default rule of remaining sincere to her own feelings, i.e. what (E) says (not congratulate him). The other four answer choices do not address SHAYNA'S BELIEFS ABOUT DANIEL'S FEELINGS. That's the hinge here.

(A) what does she think about his feelings?
(B) who cares what he does or does not think. What does SHE think he thinks?
(C) this is a general belief Shayna holds, but not a belief she holds about Daniel's preferences specifically
(D) okay, but does Shayna know this?

Tricky! Hope this helps.

#OfficialExplanation

[ganbayou]

why is it called *problem*? arent what discussed there also principles?
also, misrepresent=insincere right? so there are 3 conditional statements in total and two of them can be connected to allow E correct right?

[kdaddymax]

My understanding of the question, if anyone finds it helpful.

Question Type:
Principle Example

Stimulus Breakdown:
Problem: Daniel got an award. If Shayna congratulates him she would be insincere. If she doesn't she would hurt his feelings.
Principle: One should never be insincere unless maybe one believes the other person prefers kindness to honesty.

Answer Anticipation:
With these questions it's extremely useful to have a firm grasp on the principle at hand before moving forward. We can view the principle in terms of boxes we need to check off that then inspire some action. Here the default is not to be insincere, meaning Shayna should not congratulate Daniel (thereby hurting his feelings). We should expect this to be the case unless Shayna believes or knows that Daniel prefers kindness to honesty - in which case Shayna would not be wrong in being insincere.

Correct answer:
(E)

Answer choice analysis:
(A) The principle is about situational knowledge dictating the decision to congratulate or not to congratulate Daniel, not about the ramifications dictating the decision. Here we have no idea whether Shayna knows if Daniel prefers kindness to honesty. Eliminate.

(B) Tempting! We are told that Daniel might prefer kindness to honesty, so Shayna would not be wrong in being insincere. However, we must be carefully look at what we are being told, and maintain a firm grasp of the boxes we need to check to break our principle. Here we are told what Daniel might prefer, but nothing about what Shayna knows! For all we know, Shayna could believe that Daniel does not prefer kindness to honesty, and thereby would not be justified in congratulating Daniel and being insincere. The principle is about what Shayna believes/knows about Daniel's preference, not strictly about Daniel's preference. Eliminate.

(C) The principle is not about Shayna's preference, but about Daniel's preference. This is emphasize in the principle with "the person with whom one is speaking," (meaning Daniel). Eliminate.

(D) This is completely off base. Similar to (A), this answer is relying on the ramifications of congratulating Daniel dictating what Shayna should do. Again, we are concerned with what Shayna believes about Daniel's preferences guiding her decision. Eliminate.

(E) Exactly what we are looking for. The default is that Shayna should not congratulate Daniel; we only have grounds to potentially break this if Shayna believes Daniel prefers kindness to honesty. We are explicitly told here that Shayna has no such belief, and so we resort to the default: Shayna should not congratulate Daniel.

Takeaway/Pattern:
When principle example questions arise, make sure to keep track of what guides the action in the principle. Understand the default and what allows us to break the default. Incorrect answers may subtly shift the guiding factor. Tempting trap answers may seemingly check a box for the principle, but ultimately do not.

[FrancoisJ486]

This is my first post on the forum so I thought I'd give a crack at a tricky problem to see if others reasoned the same way.

The principle can be diagrammed as this: If one probably does not believe that the person with whom one is speaking would prefer kindness to honesty, then one should be sincere. (I changed never be insincere to be sincere).

The problem tells us that IF Shayna congratulates Daniel on his award, she will misrepresent her true feelings. So, If Congratulate --> NOT Sincere. The contrapositive of this is: If Sincere ---> then don't congratulate.

If you combine that with what we derived from the principle we get to this:
If one probably does not believe that the person with whom one is speaking would prefer kindness to honesty --> then be Sincere --> Do not Congratulate.

(E) tells us: Shayna does not know what Daniel prefers (triggering the sufficient condition above), so we need Shayna to not congratulate Daniel, which is exactly what it says.

Hope this helps!