argument200--欢迎拍文和讨论

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好久没写了，这是一道比较有特色的题目，所以拖了一天还是决定写写看。欢迎大家痛拍此文，欢迎讨论，先拜谢！


TOPIC: ARGUMENT200 - Statistics collected from dentists indicate that three times more men than women faint while visiting the dentist. This evidence suggests that men are more likely to be distressed about having dental work done than women are. Thus, dentists who advertise to attract patients should target the male consumer and emphasize both the effectiveness of their anesthetic techniques and the sensitivity of their staff to nervous or suffering patients.
WORDS:539
TIME: 00:30:00
DATE: 2010-07-28 20:00:05

The author gives dentists advice about how to advertise, supported with statistics and analysis. In-depth consideration of the reasoning of the argument reveals several logical flaws it suffers.

To begin with, the argument is relying on an assumption that is groundless without excluding other possibility. The unique assumption is that people faint while visiting the dentist because of their nervous of suffering. However, that's only possible factors might contribute to make patients faint. So it is dubious to assert that they two are the only reason. Since patients encounter a system of treatment and there exists possibility that one of pharmaceutical products or methods the dentist uses plays the crucial role. Even though there are statistics illustrate that more men than women faint, that only indicates that man might be more sensitive to that factor, but not necessarily the nervous or suffering.

On the other side, the author take faint as an expression of distressed. That's totally irrational. As a common sense, there are many causes of faint. For example, I have the experience of faint because of threaten and hypoglycemia. However, distressed people might not turn out faint. Even more men than women faint in the certain case, that not means more men feel distressed. Furthermore, distressed people are not certain to faint. Maybe women are not easily to faint when distressed, in such case, we can draw a conclusion which is right contrast to the one the author gives, that is to say women might be more likely to be distressed but not men. Overall, without making it clear what's the relationship, the author's assertion is a hasty one.

It is not mature a suggestion for dentists to advertise to attract male consumer, even if the author can substantiate that men are more likely to faint because of distress. Since the author leaves the practical situation of the market the dentists face. We should take the constitution of patients into consideration so that we can know whether possible male consumers may refuse to pay a visit to dentists in fear of being faint. On the other hand, the author fails to consider the overall situation because they might lose some of their female consumers and the general tendency after they focus on attracting male consumers might be losing consumers.

The given analysis is not enough for the author to draw a conclusion to claim that dentists should emphasize both their effectiveness and sensitivity. Even if verified that men are more likely to be distressed and that might affluence their determination about which dentist to choose, but the author fails to make it prove that’s the key point to grasp to attract male consumers. With a single factor considered, the author certainly has ignored a lot of elements and some of them may turn out to be more important than the one the author suggests. Without comprehensive consideration, the ads plan may not guarantee the starting point.


In summary, the author draws a hasty conclusion relying on an insufficient analysis. To make it convincing, more in-detailed and scientific study should be carried out to performance of both male and female consumers. What’s more, the author should make comparison among possible advertising plans to guarantee the expectation of profits.