Q26

[anonymous93]

I chose E because it doesn't seem like the author of Passage B seems too intent on refuting theories. Why is B correct???

[ohthatpatrick]

If B is skeptical of an answer choice, it means B believes something close to the negation of that answer.

Here is the set of answers, negated.
(A) Something besides negative evidence was Popper's main contribution.

(B) Positive evidence plays at least some role in supporting a theory.

(C) To derive predictions from a theory, you usually don't need auxiliary premises.

(D) There is NO asymmetry between positive and negative evidence. They are logically EQUAL.

(E) Science does NOT involve generating bold theories and trying to disprove them.

Consider that set of answer choices and ask yourself, "Which of these is most supportable in Psg B"?

Since we know it's easier to support weakly-worded Inferences and hard to support strongly-worded ones, we might notice the strength of each answer

(A) something else was main contribution
(B) something plays at least some role
(C) you usually don't need AP's
(D) these two things are equal
(E) these two things are not involved in this activity

(B) sticks out as the safest claim. (C), (D), and (E) are very strong claims, and we can't support their extreme tone from psg B.

(A) is just out of scope. Psg B doesn't even reference Popper.

So (B) is appealing as a guess, but how do we support it and know we're getting it right? We need a line reference.

Lines 60-64 give it to me. The observed orbit of Mercury was positive evidence for Einstein's theory, "Leading to increased confidence" in the theory.

[jiangzihaoalex]

If B is skeptical of an answer choice, it means B believes something close to the negation of that answer.

Here is the set of answers, negated.
(A) Something besides negative evidence was Popper's main contribution.

(B) Positive evidence plays at least some role in supporting a theory.

(C) To derive predictions from a theory, you usually don't need auxiliary premises.

(D) There is NO asymmetry between positive and negative evidence. They are logically EQUAL.

(E) Science does NOT involve generating bold theories and trying to disprove them.

Consider that set of answer choices and ask yourself, "Which of these is most supportable in Psg B"?

Since we know it's easier to support weakly-worded Inferences and hard to support strongly-worded ones, we might notice the strength of each answer

(A) something else was main contribution
(B) something plays at least some role
(C) you usually don't need AP's
(D) these two things are equal
(E) these two things are not involved in this activity

(B) sticks out as the safest claim. (C), (D), and (E) are very strong claims, and we can't support their extreme tone from psg B.

(A) is just out of scope. Psg B doesn't even reference Popper.

So (B) is appealing as a guess, but how do we support it and know we're getting it right? We need a line reference.

Lines 60-64 give it to me. The observed orbit of Mercury was positive evidence for Einstein's theory, "Leading to increased confidence" in the theory.

I am still not sure about D. IMO the negation of D is these two things are symmetrical, which is what Passage B set out to prove. Passage B basically says negative evidence is not conclusive just like positive evidence. Shouldn't B be skeptical of D?