WeakenDiff: Medium
Logic Breakdown
Passage Summary: Ever since computers became popular, productivity growth has slowed down, especially in tech-heavy industries, so computers probably don't help businesses grow faster.
Conclusion: Increasing a business's reliance on computer technology likely does not lead to improved productivity growth.
Reasoning: General productivity growth has declined since the 1960s and 1970s when computers became common, and the industries using computers most heavily saw the largest drops.
Analysis: This argument relies on a classic correlation-to-causation leap, assuming that because productivity dropped while computers were introduced, the computers caused the drop. To weaken this, look for an answer that provides an alternative explanation for the productivity slump or suggests that computers actually prevented an even worse decline. It is possible that these specific industries faced external economic pressures that would have decimated productivity even more without the help of technology.
Conclusion: Increasing a business's reliance on computer technology likely does not lead to improved productivity growth.
Reasoning: General productivity growth has declined since the 1960s and 1970s when computers became common, and the industries using computers most heavily saw the largest drops.
Analysis: This argument relies on a classic correlation-to-causation leap, assuming that because productivity dropped while computers were introduced, the computers caused the drop. To weaken this, look for an answer that provides an alternative explanation for the productivity slump or suggests that computers actually prevented an even worse decline. It is possible that these specific industries faced external economic pressures that would have decimated productivity even more without the help of technology.
Passage Stimulus
Passage Redacted
Unlock Full Passage19.Which one of the following, if true, most weakens the argument?
Correct Answer
D
Within an industry, the firms that invested most heavily in computers had the greatest productivity growth. That directly undermines the conclusion that a business probably did not improve its productivity growth by increasing reliance on computers.
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