LSAT Preperation

things needed to memorize for the LSAT

Charles Darwin

Pioneered the theory of evolution and natural selection

Natural Selection

traits that give an organism a reproductive advantage will be more likely to persist in future generations, gradually changing the species.

Gene

made of DNA. They determine traits like height and shoe size.

Mutation

a random genetic change. As genes replicate, sometimes there are errors, and these errors create random new traits.

Nature vs. Nurture

the debate over whether traits are genetic or from our environment

Atmosphere

the many layers of gases that surround the earth and protect us from radiation and such. The stratosphere and troposphere are layers of atmosphere.Pl

Planet

Orbits the star. The sun is the start that the earth orbits

Asteroid

also orbit starts, but are smaller than planets. They´re basically space rocks and have irregular orbits, and can enter our atmosphere as meteors.

Ecosystem

the group of all living things in a given area. Many questions will talk about potential threats to an ecosystem, like an invasive species.

Global Warming

the phenomenon that makes the earth´s temperature gradually rise and melt the glaciers, which then cause sea levels to rise. It has been linked to carbon dioxide emissions and the burning fossil fuels.

Pesticides

chemicals that farmers spray on plants to kill insects. these chemicals can have neegative consequences for the planet and humans that ingest the planet.

Carbon Dating

A technique used by scientist to find out how old things are. it measures how much the carbon has decayed on the object the scientists want to date.

Controversy (C)lir

Debate: two-speaker stimuli. two people have an exchange and one of them will have an argument

Loophole C(L)ir

Argument: these consists of premises and conclusions

Interference CL(I)r

Premise Set: made up of the premises, no conclusion.

Resolution CLI(R)

Paradox: a specific type of premise set, the premises in a paradox contradict one another, creating a stimuli that does not make sense.

Most important words in an argument

Must (certainty), cannot(certainty), could (possibility) not necessarily (possibility)

Sufficient Assumption

Proves the conclusion is 100% true

• Powerful

• Not boring

• this proves the conclusion must always be true

• If the conclusion is true this does not have to be

Necessary Assumption

If the conclusion is true, this must also be true

• Provable

• Boring

Omitted Options

• no relationship

• New factor causing on or both

• backwards causation

Revenue

The total amount of money a business brings in

Gross Sales

one type of revenue. It is all the sales a business makes.

Costs

the money a business spends

Profit

The difference between a business revenue and costs

Market

The market for something is the overall group of everyone selling and buying that thing

Free Market

a characteristic of capitalism where people sell things to one another without too much interference

Communism (opposite of capitalism)

interferes with the free market by redistributing wealth.

Monopoly

occurs when one company has sole meaningful control over an industry. This means that competition is lacking and pricing/unfair advantages can get out of control

GDP (Gross Domestic Product)

All the things produced by a country. People use it to talk about all the size of a country’s economy.

Bad Conditional Reasoning (Classical Flaw)

Occurs when the author reads the conditionals supplied in the premises incorrectly.

Loophole → “What if we actually have to follow the rules of conditional reasoning?”

Bad Causal Reasoning (Classical Flaw)

Crazy person sees that two things are correlated → Crazy person concludes that one of these things is causing the other

Remember Omitted Options:

• New factor causing one or both

• No relationship

Loophole: “What if one of those Omitted Options is the case?”

Whole- to-part (Part does not equal whole) (Classical Flaw)

Never assume from wholes to parts or from parts to wholes

Loopholes: “What if wholes do not necessarily equal parts?”

Overgeneralization (Parts does not equal all parts) (Classic Flaw)

Takes something small and turns it into something big.

Loophole: “What if we can’t generalize from this one thing to a bunch of other things?”

Survey Problems (Classical Flaw)

You should always assume surveys are done with the greatest possible incompetence.

Loophole: “What if the sample was biased, the questions were biased, there are other contradictory surveys, people lie on surveys, or the sample is too small?”

False Starts (Classical Flaw)

Always assumes that the two groups are the same in all respects except the ones called out as part of the study

Loopholes: “What if the two groups were different in a key respect?”

Possibility does not equal certainty (Classical Flaw)

Comes down to a lack of comfort with ambiguity. Things go wrong when you say that the other person has not proven their conclusions, so their conclusion can’t be true. Facts are not affected by the failure of an argument.

Loophole: “What if lack of evidence does not equal evidence of lacking? What if proof of evidence does not equal evidence of proof?”

Implication (Classical Flaw)

Tells people what they believe, which is always a dangerous idea. Opinions and facts do not play well together.

Loophole: “What if the person in the question isn’t aware of what their belief implies?”

False Dichotomy (Classical Flaw)

Pretends there are only two options when there could be more.

2 ways FD could co wrong

• Limiting a spectrum

• Limiting options

Loophole: “What if there are more than just two options?”

Straw Man (Classical Flaw)

these arguments respond to an opponent by “mishearing” what was said to them.They respond to something entirely different, something so outlandish that it’s easy to dismiss out of hand.

Loophole: “What if what they said has nothing to do with the claim they’re pretending to respond to?”

Ad Hominen (to the person) (classical flaw)

Premises insult the proponent of a position, but then the conclusion challenges the truth of the position itself.

Loophole: “What if this person’s character/ motivation doesn’t affect the truth?”

Circular Reasoning (classic flaw)

Assumes the conclusion is true before doing the work proving it so. Rule out objections to the conclusion simply because those objections are incompatible with the conclusion. Derives much of its difficulty from its language. Often repeat their conclusion

Loophole: “What if we can’t use the conclusion as evidence for itself?”

Equivocation (classic Flaw)

Happens when the author changes the meaning of a word throughout an argument

Loophole: “What if we shouldn’t let words change in meaning?”

Appeal Fallacies (Opinion does not equal fact) (Classic Flaw)

about turning someone’s opinions into a fact.

2 ways this happens:

• Invalid appeal to authority

• Invalid appeal to public opinion

Loophole: “What if this opinion does not equal evidence of fact?”

Irrelevant (Classic Flaw)

When the premises are entirely unrelated to the conclusion. It is a kind of cop-out, so only choose it when you don’t detect a more specific, compelling classic flaw in the stimulus.

Loophole: “What if the premises and the conclusion have nothing to do with one another?”

Percentages does not equal numbers (Classic Flaw)

A rising percentage doesn’t imply a rising number and vice versa. Always assume group size remains the same.