The asteroid that hit the Yucatán Peninsula 65 million years ago caused both long-term climatic change and a tremendous firestorm that swept across North America. We cannot show that it was this fire that caused the extinction of the triceratops, a North American dinosaur in existence at the time of the impact of the asteroid. Nor can we show that the triceratops became extinct due to the climatic changes resulting from the asteroid’s impact. Hence, we cannot attribute the triceratops’s extinction to the asteroid’s impact.
Question: Which one of the following has flawed reasoning most similar to the flawed reasoning in the argument above?
Options:
A. I know that one cannot move this piano unless one can lift at least 150 kilograms. I doubt that either Leon or Pam can lift 150 kilograms alone. So I doubt that either Leon or Pam can move this piano alone. Thus, I doubt that Leon and Pam can move this piano together.
B. Since we are quite sure that Cheng and Lin are the only candidates in the mayoral election, we can be quite sure that either Cheng or Lin will win the election. Therefore, either we know that Cheng will win or we know that Lin will win.
C. It has not been conclusively proven that the accident was caused by John’s driving at excessive speeds. Nor has it been conclusively proven that the accident was the result of John’s weaving out of his lane. Hence, it has been conclusively proven that the cause of the accident was neither John’s driving at excessive speeds nor John’s weaving out of his lane.
D. The flooding in the basement caused damage to the furnace and also caused a short in the electrical system. Fire investigators could not show that the damage to the furnace caused the fire that resulted shortly after the flooding, nor could they show that the fire was caused by the short in the electrical system. Therefore, we cannot claim that the flooding in the basement caused the fire.
E. We have good reason to believe that the cause of the flooding along the coast was the unusually high tides. We also have good reason to believe that the cause of the unusually high tides was either the sun or the moon. So it is reasonable to maintain that the cause of the flooding was either the sun or the moon.
Answer: D