by ohthatpatrick Wed Sep 14, 2016 1:20 pm
Question Type:
Purpose of Information
Answer expected in lines/paragraph:
Lines 3-10, lines 17-19, and lines 30-32.
Any prephrase?
Purpose of information questions direct our attention to a small moment/detail, but they test us on how that small detail connects to a bigger point being made before or after (I think of these as "The Bookend" questions).
This is a weird one because the PURPOSE the author has with line 6-10 is really revealed a bit later in line 17-19. The author does not like Popper's logical asymmetry. And the author portrays it in line 6-10 as pretty polarizing: positive evidence has NO value and negative evidence is basically DISPROOF.
I would prephrase something like, "the author thinks that Popper goes too far in exaggerating how worthless positive evidence is and how powerful negative evidence is". Since this question stem says the words "hyperbolic application" we should be wary of anything that sounds like it's mainly just offering us the dictionary definition of hyperbole (exaggeration).
Correct answer:
D
Answer choice analysis:
A) Trap answer: "hyperbolic application" = applied to too much. But the author isn't ultimately arguing that Popper needs to limit the scope of where his negative evidence idea applies.
B) This is the opposite of what we want. The author thinks that Popper OVERestimates the significance of the idea.
C) Logical fallacy? Where are finding support for that?
D) Yes. The "idea" is the logical asymmetry between positive and negative evidence. The author ultimately says that negative evidence does NOT allow you to conclusively think you've proven an idea wrong. So Popper seems to have drawn too radical a conclusion.
E) Trap: "hyperbole" = exaggeration. The author isn't going after Popper's thinking in relation to one particular theory. The author is going against it in relation to "the actual situation scientists face".
Takeaway/Pattern: This was a somewhat weird Purpose of Information example, in that it really ties into the main point of the passage, not just some local bigger point being made. When the test asks you for the "meaning" of some quoted vocab word, beware answer choices that look appealing simply because they remind you of your dictionary definition of that word.
#officialexplanation