Argument72 Exe1

JourloveUID: 2462205

！！！先贴出来，欢迎拍砖！！！

注：由于是第一篇，没怎么限时，所以不注时间了。

72. In measuring electrical activity in different parts of the brain, researchers found that people who describe themselves as generally happy have more activity in the left prefrontal lobe of their brains than do other people. Therefore, a medication for stimulating the left prefrontal lobe of the brain would be an effective treatment for clinical depression.

       In this argument, the author recommends that an effective way of treatment for clinical depression is to stimulate the left prefrontal lobe of the brain. To support this conclusion the author cites result of a study that people who describe themselves as generally happy have more activity in the left prefrontal lobe of their brains than do other people. As it stands, the argument suffers from several critical flaws as follows.
       To begin with, the validity of result of the study is doubtful. One problem is the representativeness of the respondents. Were they representative of all the people? Were they chose for the study randomly? Moreover, we are not informed that how many people were surveyed but did not respond. If, for instance, 1000 subjects were studied, but no more than 100 echoed, the conclusion would be suspectable. Therefore, lacking such evidence the author cannot draw any conclusion based on the result of the study.
       Even if the result of the study is acceptable, the argument rests on the assumption that the increasing activity of brain’s left prefrontal lobe could enhance individual’s happy. Yet we not informed that there is compelling evidence to support the connection between these two events. Perhaps, the activity of brain’s left prefrontal lobe is just a kind of electrical activity or a symbol of other kind of activity. Or perhaps, there is no relationship between them.
       Even if it is true that the increasing of the activity of brain’s left prefrontal lobe contributes to one’s happy, it does not necessarily justify the fact that stimulating the left prefrontal lobe of brain would make one happy equally. It is equally possible that stimulating that area of brain has no effect on person.
Even if the conditions mentioned above are fulfilled, the medication for stimulating that area of brain is not necessarily an effective treatment for clinical depression. Perhaps, for example, such medication can only temporarily cure people who suffer from depression and cause a series of negative influence. Without ruling out these and those possible factors, the author cannot confidently conclude that a medication for stimulating the left prefrontal lobe of the brain would be an effective treatment for clinical depression.
       In sum, the argument is not persuasive as it stands. To make it more convincing, the author would have to provide more evidence concerning the validity of the study. To better evaluate the argument, we would need more information regarding the relationship between the activity in the left prefrontal lobe of brain and clinical depression.


[ 本帖最后由 Jourlove 于 2008-2-24 17:24 编辑 ]