Argument 35

TOPIC: ARGUMENT35 - The following appeared in the summary of a study on headaches suffered by the residents of Mentia.
"Salicylates are members of the same chemical family as aspirin, a medicine used to treat headaches. Although many foods are naturally rich in salicylates, for the past several decades food-processing companies have also been adding salicylates to foods as preservatives. This rise in the commercial use of salicylates has been found to correlate with a steady decline in the average number of headaches reported by participants in our twenty-year study. Recently, food-processing companies have found that salicylates can also be used as flavor additives for foods. With this new use for salicylates, we can expect a continued steady decline in the number of headaches suffered by the average citizen of Mentia."

WORDS: 408 TIME: 00:32:20 DATE: 2008-3-27 20:26:17

The speaker arrives at the conclusion that the number of headaches suffered by the residents of Mentia will surely steadily decrease. To support this conclusion, the arguer lists two reasons in this statement. First, a twenty-year research has discovered that participants reported less headaches when these responders eat food which contains plenty of salicylates. The second reason has to do with a new discovery that salicylates can also be used as additives. However, close scrutiny of evidence unveils that this statement actually suffers from a few critical fallacies that will undermine the credibility of the speaker's ultimateness.

Consider the first reason that the arguer advocates. According to what the speaker says, food-processing enterprises have been adopting salicylates as preservatives for the past several decades; however, the study just began twenty years ago. Thus, the credibility of the study is quite questionable. Whether people in Mentia suffered from severe headaches before the study is not mentioned at all. Perhaps at that time people did not have any head problems. Moreover, the speaker does not provide information about the local medical conditions either. Two decades are quite a long time that standard of living and medicine research have no doubt ameliorated considerably. It is highly possible that higher quantity of living and better method of healing headache contribute conspicuously to the decline of the average number of headaches. In addition, it is equally probable that the twenty-year study does not involve enough participants; thus its verdict is lame. In short, there are several other factors that will weaken the verdict of this statement.

The second reason that the speaker reckons as cogent is, in effect, even more unpersuasive reason than the first one. Albeit salicylates have been found that they can be also used as additives for food, no evidence shows food-processing corporations will use more salicylates in tacking food. Besides, whether excessive salicylates will conduce towards unforeseeable harmful disease that would make patients' headaches even worse is unknown. The arguer fails to demonstrate this possible case has been refuted by medical scientists.

In summary, the statement indeed suffers from several vital flaws as discussed above. To solidify the conclusion, the speaker would have to provide more detailed information about the livings of Mentia, and further manifest that too many salicylates will not contribute to any other side effect. Without considering and ruling out these possible factors, it is too hasty for the arguer to arrive at the conclusion.