Literary geniuses known for their sad poetry have unusually high suicidal tendencies. A new medicine has been proven to be able to cure such tendencies by easing the feeling of sadness; however, any use of such medicine by these literary geniuses will be a loss to the poetic world.

The argument is based on which one of the following assumptions?

Correct answer marked below

Literary geniuses know for their sad poetry differ in the intensity of their suicidal tendencies.

The medicine directly impacts the poetic creativity of an individual.

The sadness felt by the literary geniuses contributes to the poetic value of their work.

Correct

The medicine can alter suicidal tendencies to different extents in different individuals.

Suicidal tendencies are not present in people who do not write sad poetry.

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What this question tests

Whether you can identify the unstated assumption a critical-reasoning argument depends on.

Picking an option that strengthens the argument or is merely relevant instead of one that is required.