Necessary Assumption

dayana.perlera822

Necessary Assumption has been an absolute headache for me. I tried the negation test and it's still not clicking. Any tips on how to approach these questions types?

joeybruggers

When aproaching necessary vs sufficient, I look at it like: Necesarry= the answer needed to make the argument possible and suffient= the answer that would prove the conclusion of the argument to be possible.

LSATmakesmeLSAD

one way to think of it is to ask yourself "if the conclusin is true, must this answer choice be true?" think of the N.A. as what the argument needs to prevent it from flatlining. Often, this can be presented in 2 forms: a necessary assumption that links two ideas in the stimulus (look out for brand new concepts and terms as the argument goes from premise to conclusion) or a n.a. that protects the argument from a possible objection.

Cant Get Right

Yeah, negation doesn't work for me either. I mean, it works--I can do it--it just tends to be way more of a headache and way more time consuming than just using the MBT test. The MBT test is WAY easier, WAY faster, and equally reliable. So I just don't ever see any occasion to use the negation test unless it's for a fundamentals exercise or a proof or something. But under timed conditions? No thanks.

Vardant104

Hi Dayana,

Truly, you're not alone in this struggle... NA has been a migraine for me too. But here’s a framework that’s helped me get MBT questions right:

Imagine the stimulus is a racetrack with a finish line. Before the finish line stands a dog. After the finish line sits a cat.

What is necessary for me to reach the cat?
– I must reach the finish line.
Why? Because the cat is after the finish line, so reaching it requires I’ve already passed the finish line. In other words, reaching the finish line is necessary to reach the cat.