Q1 - Considering that Mark Twain

[mitrakhanom1]

Why is the answer C and why is B wrong?

[christine.defenbaugh]

Thanks for posting, mitrakhanom1!

In a paradox question, the first task is to identify what's the weird! Then we'll be on the hunt for an answer that explains the situation, or makes things not so weird.

So, we have two sets of facts here that, together, seem awfully odd at first glance.

ON THE ONE HAND
Most people know Mark Twain was a writer.
Mark Twain is Samuel Clemens.
ON THE OTHER HAND
Very few people know that Samuel Clemens is a writer.

So weird! What could possibly explain these people's lack of knowledge that Samuel Clemens is a writer? After all, they know that Mark Twain is a writer, so how could they go wrong?

Well, the author of this stimulus clearly knows that Samuel Clemens and Mark Twain are the same person, but what if no one else did? If someone asked you about both names, you might say "I know Mark Twain, and I know that he's a writer, but I've never heard of this Samuel Clemens guy."

Remember, we're focused on what people know and don't know. We've established that they know that Mark Twain is a writer. We've established that many of them don't know that Samuel Clemens is one. While it's true that Mark Twain and Samuel Clemens are one and the same, we have no idea whether people actually know that. This is exactly what (C) zeros in on.

As for (B), keep in mind that we're trying to explain how all these people could possibly NOT KNOW that Samuel Clemens is a writer. But (B) is focused on all the people that do know that Samuel Clemens was a writer. These knowledgeable people can't possibly help me understand why the other people DON'T know this!

Let's take a quick spin through the remaining incorrect answers with this in mind:

(A) Even people that haven't read works by Samuel Clemens could be aware that he is a writer. This doesn't explain the ignorance!

(D) While this may be true in real life, I'm not interested in 'conflicting beliefs'. We never establish that people believe Samuel Clemens is NOT a writer - just that people aren't aware that he is one! This doesn't explain their ignorance!

(E) What some people DO know doesn't explain why other people DON'T know something! I still need an explanation for the ignorance!


Keep your eyes locked on the target: you need an explanation for WHY these people are ignorant that Samuel Clemens is a writer, given what they know about Mark Twain!

Please let me know if this helps clear up a few things!