PrepTest 114, Section 2, Question 11
Human intelligence is not possible without human emotions.(23 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(8 more words not shown)
- AA computer could(8 more words not shown)
- BComputer technology will(7 more words not shown)
- CSomeone or something(9 more words not shown)
- DThe greater the(9 more words not shown)
- EBeing intelligent requires(5 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
What happened to “human”?
The opening tells us human intelligence requires human emotions. The conclusion rules out intelligence of any kind in a computer. Those aren't automatically the same claim. Perhaps something could be intelligent in a different way, without meeting a requirement that applies specifically to humans.
We should accept the other premise for this question: computers can never have emotions. The issue is what follows from that limitation. Without a rule about intelligence generally, the lack of emotions only connects to the kind of intelligence the opening actually discussed.
What we’re looking for
For the required assumption, I'd carry the emotion requirement across that gap. Being intelligent at all must require the capacity for emotions. Then the stipulated limitation on computers would rule out the conclusion's broader kind of intelligence, too.
Working the answers
- A
This puts intelligence in the position of a requirement for emotions. We need emotions to be a requirement for intelligence. A computer could lack emotions and still be intelligent without violating A's rule: the rule only restricts what would have to be true if it had emotions. It doesn't get us from no emotions to no intelligence.
- B
The argument doesn't need computer technology to stop advancing. It already says computers can never have emotions, which includes future computers. Other abilities could improve greatly while that stated limitation remained. B isn't the connection between emotion and intelligence that the argument needs.
- C
Identifying emotions is more than having the capacity for them. The argument could require an intelligent being to have emotions without requiring that being to recognize or describe its feelings. C adds a further requirement. The needed link is the capacity for emotions, not the ability to identify them.
- D
This gives a relationship between degrees: more emotional capacity means more intelligence. The argument doesn't compare how emotional or how intelligent different beings are. It uses the absence of emotions to rule out intelligence entirely. D supplies a scale without establishing that required connection.
- ECorrect
This applies the requirement to intelligence generally. If something is intelligent, it must be capable of emotions. A computer, by the premise, cannot have emotions, so it fails that requirement and cannot be intelligent.
Notice how little needs to carry over from the human case. We don't have to claim every feature of human intelligence is shared by every possible kind of intelligence. We need this particular requirement to apply beyond humans. E supplies it.
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