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Creative engineers

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Creative engineers

by metallicafan » Wed Apr 18, 2012 12:45 pm
Studies show that the most creative engineers get their best and most useful ideas only after doodling and jotting down what turn out to be outlandish ideas. Now that many engineers do their work with computers instead of on paper, however, doodling is becoming much less common, and some experts fear that the result will be fewer creative and useful engineering ideas. These experts argue that this undesirable consequence would be avoided if computer programs for engineering work included simulated notepads that would allow engineers to suspend their "serious" work on the computer, type up outlandish ideas, and then quickly return to their original work.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which the experts' reasoning depends?

(A) Most creative engineers who work with paper and pencil spend about as much time doodling as they spend on what they consider serious work.

(B) Simulated notepads would not be used by engineers for any purpose other than typing up outlandish ideas.

(C) No engineers who work with computers keep paper and pencil near their computers in order to doodle and jot down ideas.

(D) The physical act of working on paper is not essential in providing engineers with the benefits that can be gained by doodling.

(E) Most of the outlandish ideas engineers jot down while doodling are later incorporated into projects that have practical applications.


I agree with the OA, but I don't understand why C cannot be correct.
OA: D
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by ice_rush » Wed Apr 18, 2012 3:21 pm
Trying negating (C) and you'd see why it cannot be the correct answer.
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by killer1387 » Wed Apr 18, 2012 5:43 pm
D is correct. C is too extreme, the argument uses "most"," many".. no signs thrown at the reader regarding this extreme case.
Also as ice_rush points out you may see negating C, which goes irrelevant w.r.t. the argument.
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by [email protected] » Tue Mar 04, 2014 8:23 am
Why "C" option is wrong?
Answer: The argument say,"the engineer spends time on the computers INSTEAD of note pads"!
So even if he had note-pads besides him, he would have not used it.
HOPE IT HELPS!
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by Matt@VeritasPrep » Tue Mar 04, 2014 5:41 pm
Let's diagram the argument first.

Premise: The most creative engineers get some of their best ideas only while doodling.
Premise: Computers have reduced doodling.
Conclusion: If computers encouraged engineers to doodle, these creative engineers would continue to have great ideas.

Now let's look for an assumption made by the argument.

(A) is out of scope, as it refers to engineers still working with pencil and paper (not the engineers we're worried about, who have been enslaved by computers).

(B) is too strong: we don't need computer notebooks to be EXCLUSIVELY devoted to doodling.

(C) is too strong: we don't need "no engineer" to be without a notebook. Two reasons why we don't need this: (i) our argument is concerned with the most creative engineers, not all engineers; (ii) computers could so monopolize our engineers' time that even our engineers have a notebook handy, they might not use it because they're absorbed by their computers.

(D) IS an assumption we need: if doodling relies on the tactile effect of paper (or perhaps the lack of a glaring computer screen), then a computer simulator will NOT be able to provide this, and our argument falls apart - 'computer doodling' wouldn't be productive 'doodling' after all!

(E) is out of scope: we don't need most of the ideas to have practical applications, only some of them.
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by [email protected] » Tue Mar 04, 2014 10:38 pm
Hi metallicafan,

This CR prompt is built around "causality" - the idea that one thing causes another. The GMAT uses this type of logic often in CR questions, so it's worth learning (and learning to recognize).

The Facts:
-Studies show that engineers get their BEST and MOST USEFUL ideas after DOODLING and jotting down OUTLANDISH IDEAS.
-Many engineers work with computers instead of paper, so DOODLING is becoming MUCH LESS COMMON (experts fear that there will be FEWER creative and useful ideas BECAUSE of working on a computer).

The Conclusion:
-Experts argue that this DECREASE can be AVOIDED if computers included simulated notepads that allowed engineers to type up OUTLANDISH IDEAS.

The Logic:
-The idea that DOODLING leads to useful ideas is "causal" - the doodling is what causes the most useful ideas to occur. The studies focused on engineers who doodled on paper. The author believes that the doodling will lead to the useful ideas REGARDLESS of what the physical tools are (paper or computer programs with simulated notepads). We need to find an answer that matches this idea.

Answer D provides the necessary information to confirm the causal idea.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Contact Rich at [email protected]
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