Analyze the four arguments provided below. Pair each one with the theoretical description that most precisely diagnoses its erroneous assumption about parts and their respective wholes.
- An ecological report notes that the apex predator population in a given wildlife preserve has experienced a rapid decline in genetic diversity. Based entirely on this finding, it concludes that the silver-backed wolf, being one of the apex predators in that preserve, must also be experiencing a rapid decline in genetic diversity.Infers that a phenomenon affecting a collective population as a whole must necessarily be affecting a specific category comprising that population.
- An aviation analyst argues that because each individual commercial flight operated by a specific airline carries a statistically negligible risk of severe mechanical failure, it logically follows that the airline's entire fleet of flights, when aggregated over the course of a year, must also carry a statistically negligible risk of severe mechanical failure.Concludes that a probability assessment applicable to each individual instance of an activity must also be the correct probability assessment for the aggregate of all such instances.
- A cybersecurity expert states that a newly implemented cryptographic protocol is widely considered highly secure against brute-force decryption attempts. From this, the expert deduces that the randomized hashing function, a foundational component of this protocol, must itself be highly secure against brute-force decryption.Presumes without justification that a characteristic of an integrated overarching system is necessarily shared by the individual mechanisms that function within that system.
- A medical researcher observes that each distinct pharmacological compound in a newly formulated medication has been shown in trials to safely lower blood pressure. The researcher therefore concludes that the medication as a whole, which is simply a mixture of these compounds, will safely lower blood pressure.Assumes that a causal effect produced by constituent elements in isolation will necessarily continue to be produced by the combination of those elements.
Answer
The ecological report matches with inferring population phenomena to a specific category. The aviation analyst matches with applying individual probability assessments to an aggregate. The cybersecurity expert matches with presuming system characteristics apply to individual mechanisms. The medical researcher matches with assuming isolated causal effects persist in combinations.
Each flawed argument is correctly matched with its abstract logical description by identifying whether the reasoning erroneously moves from part to whole (composition) or whole to part (division), and by accurately linking the specific domains of the arguments (probability, systems, causation, populations) to the theoretical descriptions.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Composition and Division (Part to Whole)
Estimated Time:2m 30s