Passage Summary: Whittaker says you can't count students who drop out before their second year because they never reach that year. Hudson mocks this by saying that, by the same logic, he can't die until he's a millionaire, because dying 'before' the money would mean the money never existed.

Conclusion: Whittaker's logic is flawed because it leads to an absurd conclusion about Hudson's own wealth.

Reasoning: Hudson applies Whittaker's logic—that an event cannot happen 'before' a milestone if the event prevents the milestone—to the idea of dying before becoming a millionaire.

Analysis: Hudson is employing a 'reductio ad absurdum' strategy, which is a fancy way of saying he is showing how Whittaker's logic leads to a ridiculous result. By mirroring Whittaker's structural reasoning in a different context, Hudson demonstrates that the logic is based on a linguistic trick rather than a factual reality. When identifying the method of reasoning here, focus on how Hudson uses a parallel example to expose the absurdity of the original claim. It's a sharp, effective way to show that just because a milestone isn't reached doesn't mean the events leading up to it didn't occur.