NO SHORTCUTS TO THE GRE AND GMAT TESTS - Part II

Hello! Great to have you back. Hope you had a merry Christmas and a rocking New Year 2023.

So the outcome of the previous discussion, before we look into the other aspects as discussed in the previous blog, was ‘not just reasoning but analytical reasoning’ and paves the way towards understanding the difference between ‘Critical reasoning’ and ‘Analytical reasoning’.

In plain and simple language, critical reasoning is more often than not tilted towards ‘finding faults’ with the conclusion rather than examining the case scenario which may go in or against the favor of the author of the said text. The first thing to do to be ‘analytical’ is to put your thoughts in a neutral zone – which means you neither agree nor disagree with the given context. In other words, you accept or reject the context only after you examine the evidence [premise/s] provided in order to come to your own conclusion of whether to agree or disagree.

Now, the texts that you are accosted with can either be expository, narrative or rhetorical in nature. A lot depends on your interpretation of the nature of the text. This is crucial in order to be able to interpret the text in a manner that the author wants you to and this must take place before you begin your analysis. Without establishing the nature of the content, which can also be a combination of more than one type, your analysis will reflect your observation and experience and not that of the author’s.

Another important aspect to consider is the difference of exposure to circumstances and experiences [include what you read in the media and your social circle] that the author of the content developer might have been through. After all, it is indeed true that our thoughts and opinions are largely shaped by what we watch and read in the media and the kind of company we keep.

Hence, being neutral is of utmost importance though, it is most of the times difficult – not impossible if you leave your own experience behind – but then that is the difficult part. To a great extent, we are influenced by our own experiences rather than limiting our thoughts to the evidence/s or circumstance/s provided in the context we are dealing with. To be able to do this, you need to be aware of the different fallacies that can assist us in evaluating situations in the given context. In all honesty, if we put the different fallacies to use in our daily lives, we should be able to deal with most of the crises that crop up now and then. So, the next time you see a jovial couple, do not arrive at a hurried conclusion that they are in a relationship just because couples ought to be happy when together and opposite genders might turn out to be lovers. They could simply be close friends and if not you should be able to provide evidence of the same. Or?your opinion [conclusion] fails miserably if counter evidence/s (could be explicit or implicit) are identified! So, do not hold general opinions as such as the mentioned tests are not only difficult but also stressful to get a decent percentile score. Just because your known associate could not do well does NOT mean that you will face the same fate too. If you think so, you will be missing the point!

Make sense?

More in the next blog about other skills to develop [exposure to different reading materials, increasing your comprehension of expressions used by native speakers, and word choices]. So, see you next month. [February, 2023].