argument145 FLY AW 第三十五次作业

xmbjowlUID: 2182375

TOPIC: ARGUMENT145 - A new study collected data that shows that people who snore are more likely to gain weight than are people who do not snore. It is well known that many people who snore also stop breathing frequently during the night for a few seconds, a condition called sleep apnea. The interruption of breathing wakes the person-often so briefly that the waking goes unnoticed-and can leave the person too tired during the day to exercise. Anyone who snores, therefore, should try to eat less than the average person and to exercise more.
WORDS: 554          TIME: 上午 12:41:59          DATE: 2006-7-9

In this argument, the author recommends that the group of individuals who snores should try to eat less, as well as exercise more than the average people, in order to avoid gaining weight. To support the suggestion, a new study is cited in the argument, and several unconvincing facts are mentioned in an attempt to justify the recommendation. Unfortunately, neither the former nor the latter is substantiated enough to support the conclusion, for several patent logical fallacies.
To begin with, the new conducted study is statistically unreliable. The fact that individuals who snore have larger probability to gain the weight, is not convincing as it stands. First, the representative and reliability of the study is open to doubt. Is the sample large enough? Are the data accurate enough to deduce correct result? Without detailed information regarding the above-mentioned aspects, the collected data in the study can only be unverified and thus unbelievable. Second, the causality between the snoring person and higher probability of gaining weight is open to doubt. It is entirely possible that the auger has confused the cause and the effect, in view of the given effect. Perhaps gaining weight serves as the cause of snore. Also, there lie other possible reasons which can explain the phenomenon, such as unbalanced diet, as well as heredity. Without ruling out all the potential possibility, the author cannot convince us the authenticity of the results drawn from the study.

Besides, even assuming the validity of the study mentioned above, the cited fact involving temporary sleep apnea is open to doubt. In the first place, the vague data of the amount of snoring people who suffering from sleep apnea should be replaced by precise data such as the percentage of those people, since it is entirely possible that the sleep apnea can only happen to a very limited group of people. In the second place, even assuming the existence of sleep apnea in most people who snore, no evidence is provided that those who snore do not take exercise during the day. Perhaps the sleep apnea could not make them feel tired. Even if they would feel tired, they still stick to take exercise regularly in order to reduce the weight. Thus, the given fact asserting the causal relationship between snoring and less exercise is not sounded enough to support the auger's viewpoint.

Finally, the recommendation that anyone who snores should try to eat less than the average person and to exercise more is open to doubt. Since the hidden causality between the losing weight and above proposals is unconvincing. It is common that a person eats little yet suffers from obesity. In view of the possible fact that those who suffering from snoring are leak, it seems unwise for them to eat less. Also, taking more exercise should not be commonly adopted by anyone who snores.  Perhaps they are too tired to exercise, thus forced exercising would do little good to their health, even may increase the risk of suffering from heart attack.

In conclusion, the recommendation is unconvincing as it stands, for the above-mentioned reasons. Since the study mentioned in the argument is questionable and the correlation between snoring and less exercise is doubtful, more detailed information and data concerning those respects should be provided, in order to strengthen the validity and feasibility of the suggestion.

[ 本帖最后由 xmbjowl 于 2006-7-9 17:09 编辑 ]