I need some comments on this argument task! Carcass



The author asserted that citizens of Forsythe have been living in a healthier lifestyle compared to before. To support his/her claim, the author cited results from a recent survey, and the fact that the sales of food containing kiran have increased and the sales of food containing sulia have decreased. Although it might be true that people are living in a healthier lifestyle based on this evidence, it cannot convincingly lead to such a conclusion because there are still some unsubstantiated assumptions in the author’s lines of reasoning. If the assumptions the author made prove to be flawed, the conclusion may be seriously altered.

To start with, the author simple assumed that the survey conducted could reflect the true lifestyles people are living in. First, the author did not mention the number of respondents in this survey. The number of respondents might be extremely small, in this case, the survey results would not be representative. Moreover, in the theory of sampling, it is said that a voluntary survey usually contains bias. This is because people who respond to the survey are usually those who have strong opinions about some certain issues. In this scenario, there is a chance that only citizens who are trying to live in a healthful lifestyle respond to the survey, and those who are not living in a healthful lifestyle are not interested in participating in the survey. Therefore, the validity of this survey cannot be confirmed. More information of this survey is needed, and the author’s conclusion might be seriously changed based on the additional information.

Moreover, in the author’s lines of reasoning, he/she simply assumed that eating food that contains substances that reduce cholesterol is being healthy. I concede the fact that high cholesterol is detrimental for people’s health, and people should try to eat food that contains less cholesterol. But living in a healthy lifestyle also means exercising regularly, drinking more water, and balancing your diet. As healthy food, it should not only reduce harmful substances like cholesterol, but also contains substances bodies require like vitamin and protein. Moreover, people who are interested in seeking for food that have substances, like kiran, that can reduce cholesterol might be suffering from high blood pressure or some other diseases, so they need this food to reduce the cholesterol in their body. Therefore, simply assuming that eating food that contains substances that reduce cholesterol is being healthy is not desirable in this case, and the conclusion of the author’s lines of reasoning would be changed.

Finally, the author’s conclusion assumes that the “healthiest” citizens eat the “healthiest” food. So, if people are eating what the “healthiest” citizens are eating, they must be living in a healthy lifestyle. From my perspective, this assumption is not tenable at all. The definition of ‘the “healthiest” citizens’ is not clarified. This is a very subjective term, and it should not be used to evaluate a person’s lifestyle. And people’s health condition differs from each other. For example, foods containing a relatively high contents of fat might be considered healthy for those who are seriously under-weighted, but not for people who are over-weighted. Therefore, assuming what the “healthiest” citizens eat is the standard of being healthy is problematic.

To sum up, the author concluded that citizens of Forsythe are living in a healthier lifestyle, but there are still a few assumptions in the author’s lines of reasoning that need to be confirmed. More information is needed to evaluate these assumptions, and if they prove to be flawed, the author’s conclusion will be seriously altered.