How to Diagram a Statement You Don’t Understand

“On planet Zog, Anything which is not a Keeblor will never be without it’s Zogblag.”*

Maybe you can get this on the first try. But if you’re not sure, try replacing the terms with those which you know you could make sense of. For example:

“On planet Earth, anyone who is not a nudist will never be without clothes”.

= N–> C (if you’re not a nudist, you wear clothes (on earth))

Not For Everyday Use

There are a 1001 different words you can use to join “If….then” statements. You’ll be less familiar with some of them, and it gets worse if you don’t understand the terms of the statement either. If you get stuck, see if you can make sense of it by replacing the sufficient and necessary conditions with terms you’ll definitely understand.

Note: This technique is most useful when you’re just starting out. The end goal will be to understand any logical statement you come across, no matter what it’s about. This technique helped me get to that point.

Next: Common Words Used to Join “If….Then” Statements

* You’ll never see nonsense like this on the LSAT of course. I’m just trying to confuse you. They stick to real world examples. This technique will be more useful with science questions, or unfamiliar subject matter.

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