LSAT Common Flaws

Question 1

banana –> orange means orange –> banana

Answer 1

bad conditional reasoning

Question 2

peanut butter and jelly sandwich means that peanut butter causes jelly

Answer 2

bad causal reasoning

Question 3

Mars is the same thing as the solar system, and vice versa

Answer 3

parts and wholes

Question 4

Grover Cleveland is the GOAT therefore all forgettable presidents are the GOAT

Answer 4

overgeneralization

Question 5

survey asked football players if football is good, had the principal ask if anyone had broken school rules, asks if you are good, you pick red so red or blue, asks only one person, other surveys contradict

Answer 5

survey proble s

Question 6

two groups try chia seeds, young and old, to see if they make you do jumping jacks better: clearly chia seeds only work on young people

Answer 6

false starts

Question 7

1. no proof that no snacks caused lack of MUN attendance, could have been disillusionment. therefore definitely not snacks
2. bananas may make people fly, as my dad flew after eating a banana, therefore bananas must make people fly

Answer 7

possibility does not equal certainty

Question 8

just because I believe the world is flat doesn’t mean I think people fall off the edge just because flat implies an edge that people can fall off (people are irrational)

Answer 8

implication

Question 9

because i am not getting fatter, i am getting skinnier

Answer 9

false dichotomy

Question 10

me: i want to be a writer

dad: so you’re saying you want to be broke

Answer 10

straw man

Question 11

seals say there is not enough fish in the ocean, but fish is their main source of food, so there must be enough fish in the ocean

Answer 11

ad hominem

Question 12

the sky is blue because the sky is blue

• look for repetition between premises and conclusions

Answer 12

circular reasoning

Question 13

the author says this book is novel, but since it doesn’t fit the exact definition of a novel i would have to disagree

Answer 13

equivocation

Question 14

because lebron said global warming is fake, global warming is fake

• also look for repetition between premises and conclusions

Answer 14

appeal

Question 15

because of the long and revered history of snow in nj, global warming must be a hoax

Answer 15

irrelevant

Question 16

just because the number of pancakes sold went up doesn’t mean that clinton st baking company sells a higher percentage of pancakes

Answer 16

percentages do not equal numbers (group sizes)