Monday March 16 2008
January 10, 2009
Today’s Agenda
1) Let’s begin today by getting familiarized with our writing again.
a. Before break, we met and talked about where your paper currently was, and where it needed to be. You went home over break and re-wrote this paper into a Toulmin argument. You have that paper with you today, but it has probably been a little while since you have looked over it.
b. Let’s begin today by getting out our papers and turning them over. On the back I want you to write on the following topic:
2) DEFEND YOUR SEAT!
We are all now at a stage in this course and our education where we need to be able to justify our place not only in this institution but also in this class. You have been with me for 7 weeks now, and several of you for 21 weeks. While you have been here receiving an education, many of your peers have been working at low-paying jobs, perhaps raising families, and in general they are on track to be very much dependent on the good professional decisions that you and you fellow classmates will be making once you graduate. That’s a reality you may not like to think about, but it is very much true. While our course is only one important part of your overall undergraduate education, you are all at a point now where you need to be able to “justify” your continued presence in this course, because you are here — and they are not.
Here is how we are going to begin that process.
Over the next 10-15 minutes, I want you to explain to me how you have improved as a writer over the past seven weeks of this course. Focus on SPECIFIC aspects of your writing that have improved or developed, and tell me, with GOOD examples, how you know these areas of your writing have improved or developed. After you have done this, you need to explain to me ONE ISSUE that you know you need to work on more, and that you will need to focus on during these last 7 weeks of the course.
Group Discussion
Class Discussion
Collection of papers (to be turned back Wednesday or Friday of this week)
Let’s continue now by opening out books to chapter 17, fallacies in argument
This is an extremely important chapter, and one that we must understand to be able to progress as writers. We all use bad logic or poor argumentation strategies from time to time. That’s normal and natural, because people will generally say and do what they need to in order to get what they want. However, if you don’t want to be a victim to this kind of behavior, you need to be able to recognize it,.Your book has done a good job of breaking down some mistakes that are often made in argumentation.
Between 493 and 512, you will see a number of categories for fallacies in argument. I want each group to identify three and then come up with an example for each that would exemplify the kind of fallacy being addressed.
Group Work
Class Discussion.
Homework: Read Chapter 7 (up to 194). 1.5 page blogpost in which you identify and describe an “factual” argument you have encountered.
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Kevin H
3/16/09
R&C II
Factual Arguments
In chapter 7 the arguments that being explained are given through fact and evidence. The chapter also shows you how they are characterized, which the book says is “driven by perceptions and evidence” (182). All of the facts and evidence that you use in your argument totally depends on the people you are trying to reach. They talk about strategies on how to set up a factual argument. They tell us how to start an argument how to research and then how to present it in a formal work. From reading this chapter I realized that over spring break my family had a factual argument about global warming.
My family had for some reason had got onto the subject of global warming at the dinner table on night. My brother is a teacher and knows reasonable amounts about what is going on in our world. My parents also have their facts to add that they saw from the news and other sources. It started out with how the polar ice caps are melting and that the animals in those regions are losing their habitat. My father says that the main part is that all the emissions from the cars are causing a change in our atmosphere. It’s all of the carbon dioxide emissions from the cars that are reacting with our atmosphere making it deteriorate. Once my dad finished my brother had to agree, but also say that cars are not the only things that are causing the global warming and that the polar caps are not the only things on earth that are in danger.
The argument that my dad was trying to make is that human beings are the main cause of what is happening to our world. He did this through showing the facts that cars, which are manmade are causing a problem with global warming. He uses the facts that he has read or heard about on the news to bring forth an argument that has credibility because they are true facts, but there are some important things that my father had forgotten. My brother just happened to be there to correct these mistakes that my father was unknowably making about the facts about cars that are around now. My brother then comes into the discussion with the fact that now there are cars that are totally electric, and that use different substances other than gas. All of these things add up to say that emissions are changing and have become less of a threat to the environment as a whole. As a whole the damages had already been done, but it is up to the people to put a stop this unfortunate happening.
The conversation lasted for a good hour and all of these facts were brought up and evidence that backed up these facts. The main point that everyone was trying to make was that many things we do affect the world in more ways than we think, and that it is up to us to fix the problem of global warming. This factual argument let me see how people really view the world as a whole, and how our world seems to be falling apart.
Jack Hersom
Prof. Crowley
3/16/09
Ch: 7 Response
Factual Arguments
Factual arguments are arguments, like other types of arguments, that we see and face everyday. A factual argument is one that is meant to, “challenge beliefs and assumptions held widely within a society on the basis of inadequate or incomplete information.” As the audience being presented the information factual arguments can also be detected if the argument, “addresses broader questions about the history or myths societies want to believe about themselves.” Some examples of these types of arguments address major issues such as the citing of creatures, question the validity of the man on the moon, and if care seats are safer that seatbelts.
A factual argument that I have encountered is the idea that there is a “Big Foot,” creature that exists and still roams the woods. This particular argument was presented to me through a television show on the History Channel. This show described and argued that such a creature did exist and was still alive. The program showed individuals in the woods looking and “hunting,” for “Big Foot.” However, during these hunts nothing was showed in daylight, just noises were heard in the woods. These noises caught on this footage could have been a variety of creatures in the forest, but the show chose to convince the viewer that these were noises coming from “Big Foot,” himself. The television show also displayed evidence for their claim in the form of pictures and interviews from eyewitness accounts. The validity of the pictures was questioned when all of the pictures presented on the show were either of “Big Foot,” running away from the camera, creating a blurry shot of the creatures back. The other pictures presented were of “Big Foot,” at a distance where no tell tale signs of the creatures true existence could be identified. The pictures poor quality made the argument very questionable.
The eyewitness accounts also brought question to the argument. All of the people interviewed seemed to have the same type of story of seeing “Big Foot.” Their basic story was that they sighted “Big Foot,” going for a walk in the woods. Because they were walking in the woods without the intention of seeing “Big Foot,” they didn’t have a camera or videotape to capture any of the footage. Most of the interviewee’s answers consisted of, “I definitely saw something.” This is a good example of a factual argument because it addresses a myth that society has accepted. The only question is do you believe this factual argument on the existence of “Big Foot.”
Factual arguments come in many varieties with different standards of proof (178). What factual arguments so is explain and tell whether something is true or not or whether something exists. At first you might not agree with the argument, but it’s just a matter of looking things up and writing a report, to find that maybe you were wrong or you agree with what you found during research. In order to have a good factual argument you need to identify an issue, research your hypothesis, refine your claim, decide which evidence you’re going to use and what evidence is going to support your hypothesis the best, present your evidence and then lastly consider you design and visuals.
A factual argument that I have encountered many times is how more and more today people are deciding not to attend college. When stating this many questions are brought up. For example how come this is? Is college not as important to people as it use to be? Can you have a successful life without attending college? I personally believe that college is very important to ones career. I think that many people are not attending college simply because of the tuition that one has to pay. Many students have to pay for college by themselves and are getting no help from parents or scholarships. Not all students have a job and can pay for college therefore they decide or just can’t simply afford college.
Another argument is that college is not as important to some people. There are many people that don’t go to college because they don’t want to. It’s not important to them and they rather get a job and start their life. College is just not for some people and I believe that is true. Some people rather work and find that more enjoyable than going to college. Also I think many people don’t know what they want to do with their lives so they think college is a waste of time and money. Some when they find out what they want to do will come back and go to college or others will find a job and never go to college.
Some people might argue that by not going to college you can’t live a successful life. Personally I don’t find this true. I do believe by going to college and getting a degree and educated that it might make your life a little bit easier. I think that finding a job might be easier and getting a job will be easier. Many employers higher people with a degree from college over people that don’t have one. But I do believe that you can live a lead a successful life because I know people that have been able to do this. These people today have a family that they can support and have a good job with benefits.
Overall I believe that mostly money is the biggest issue. If college wasn’t so expensive then I definitely think that more people would attend college. I always here form people I can’t go or even think about applying to this college because there is no way I could afford it. This is sad because I believe many people want to go to college and get educated and get a degree where they could get a good job and make good money and have a decent life and maybe not have it be such a struggle, as it is for some people.
Cody Wilson
Ch. 7 – Arguments on Fact
Arguments on facts (factual arguments) are used everyday among the many other types of arguments. Arguments of fact bring us new discoveries and raise questions to explore and possibilities are brought up; whether it concerns a new invention, a new species brought up, or just public information. Factual arguments are distinct from others because they’re based on solid evidence (facts), and not on character or emotions like many others are. Over the past semester, I have been arguing with myself about my choice to come back to Husson next, or to transfer to another college.
I’ve been assessing the possible schools to attend by thinking about what I want out of a college. The facts that I’ve been thinking about that I want out of a school are whether or not it is affordable, if it is a school at least the size of Husson, the types of athletics they offer, the type of area it’s surrounded by, and if it has the major(s) I’m interested in.
So far after looking at some schools in Vermont, New Hampshire, and here in Maine, I’ve narrowed down my choices to three schools. One of them is Castleton State College of Vermont. When I looked at this school online, it is in the perfect area for me. I’ve always wanted to go skiing in Vermont and there are a lot of resorts in the area. I like that it has scholarships and grant money to offer, and that the tuition is at the same level as I’m paying right now. It is very similar to Husson in that it has pretty much the same sports and has the same amount of students enrolled. I also have a friend who goes to the same school.
Another school I’m looking at is Johnson State College in Vermont. I like Johnson State because it is also surrounded by mountains and is very similar to Husson. It is just as big as Husson, if not bigger, and has quite a few majors that I like. I think the tuition may be a little more expensive and I might have a little tougher time paying to go there. I don’t have any friends who go there so that’s a negative.
The last school I’m considering is the University of Maine. I think right now that it is my least favorite school right now just because it is not in Vermont, and it is more expensive than the schools in Vermont. It has some great athletics, but there isn’t a mountain within even an hour away from the school (or at least a decent one). I have a lot of friends from my high school who I know (at least 10 close ones) so it would be kind of nice to go there to hand out with them. On the downside, it only has one possible major I’m looking to go into next year and I feel like the facts about the school don’t match up to what I want them to be. Considering all the facts and things about the schools I am looking at, it is tough for me to make a decision between the three of them and debate which one I really want to go to. But, in order for me to get what I want, I have argue with the facts that are given and make a decision according to what school matches up best for me.
John Brown
Factual arguments come in many verities with different standards of proof. But the thing that they all have in common is that there is an attempt to establish whether something is or is not so-that is, whether a thing exists or whether claims made about something are true. (178)
An example that is not common to many people but is o so common in my community is the choice of a young black mail that is trying to survive through the streets. You have the choice of either being in a gang or be on your own and try to be survivor through the streets and make it out of New Haven Connecticut. The reason why to many young males in my part of the state is because there are so many deaths because of these Ganges and to protect your self u feel as if you must join to protect yourself so that u can even walk down the street with out worrying about what will happen to you. But in the same look it is a fact that yes you will e protected but you will not always be protected when you leave the city and go out n that is when many of the men from New Haven are killed. In addition to that you can find a young man like me who has no choice but to b protected because of their family ties to the gang but what many realize is that even though I’m not in the gang I have to watch my self where ever I go. Because even when there are other men that walk up to me u have to state to them what set u clam or if your just a “Dove”. (a person who chooses to be by themselves but is still protected by a set by family ties). But on the other had u have the fact that if you make it out of the hood you will be able to make it for you and your family. You will have shown many that you can come from the streets and still make money with out selling drugs or selling women. So many might not understand what it is like in NEW haven until they are placed in my shoes. And the worst fact of them all is that no matter what set u clam or even if you are a Dove you can still be shot down and then you life will go to the streets like so many have already.
Factual arguments tend to be based around larger type problems, or those that cannot be answered very easily. They require much analysis and questioning to get to the root of the solution. In these cases it is often more of an exploratory hypothesis in which you are gathering many pieces of evidence to the ends of proving your beliefs or assumptions to be true. Within a factual argument, it is often very difficult to determine what the correct solution should be. There may be many possibilities that are available to attempt to solve the argument, but not all of them may are going to work. Especially because when you think about many factual arguments, they are often trying to answer a very in depth question that often takes many different view points across the board.
A perfect example of a factual argument that is being encountered by any responsible adult these days is the fight to “go green,” or to become more environmentally friendly with our technology and to begin to save and efficiently use our natural resources. This simple two word phrase is the cause of much hot debate and is one of the major challenges our new president is currently trying to deal with. There are challenges as new energy sources which need to be utilized, our foreign oil dependency, and our waste of energy and resources as a nation in general. All of these things and more come into question when you begin to explore the details on becoming more environmentally friendly.
First of all, when you start to take a step back and get a good outline view of the problem you realize that it is a major issue. There are many different cause and effect situations going on, in addition to many hypothesis’ that are already in circulation for the issue. For our nation it is going to be an extremely difficult route to navigate to be able to determine the correct choices at every turn. For instance, to become free of our foreign oil dependence it requires many possible routes rather than one easy solution. We need to design new ways to run vehicles and gas powered items as generators before we can even think about not using oil. This means that new automobile industries need to be formed, or the old ones reworked. A complete make-over of our countries entire system really needs to take place.
As you can see this one phrase brings in an entire bundle of issues. To be able to go completely “green” the entire population of the world need to begin to change our habits and technology. Other countries, as in Europe, have been taking measures to reduce emissions for a while now, as in there automotive industry with much higher requirements out of their exhaust systems. This issue though is a perfect example of what a factual argument really epitomizes. It is an argument that is of high importance, but has many possible solutions to the scenario. However, to get to these solutions it requires many different people working through many different paths to find the best possible ways to rework our methods. It is going to take a while to become much cleaner, safer and respectable citizens of our one and only planet Earth.
Dylan Small
18 March 2009
After Reading Chapter seven, Arguments based on fact, I have found that I understand how they work much better. This chapter helps me understand how I need to make and present an argument based on fact. There are a few important things that you need to do in your argument to make sure it is effectively an argument of fact. First you need to, talk about a situation that brings up question about the fact of that situation. Then you must make a clam that touches on the situation’s facts correctly not incorrectly. Finally you need to provide the reader or your audience with facts that have some authority that will support the clams that you have made. Once the book laid that out for me I thought of a situation where I had encountered and argument of fact back in my junior year of high school.
About half way through the school yeah two individuals from my school were producing a hip hop CD. The two were promoting the CD In the school, and all over town. When you walked from class to class you would pass at least five posters for this Double S Ryders CD. When the CD was done the two kids sold it in the school. Everyone was buying them just to see if it was any good. It was ok, but one of the songs was about a shot gun killing spree in a school, they never said the name of your school or the name of anyone in the school in the song. Still the administration was horrified about this song and quickly expelled the two students. They that because they feared for the safety of the school and didn’t want there to be any school shootings.
Both of the students fought the school’s decision, by saying the school had violated there first amendment rights to free speech. The school countered the fight by presenting the boys with some factual evidence that made if very clear their rights had not been violated. The school said that the two had every right to sell the CD off school grounds and in that case they would have been protected by the first amendment. The school then told the two that were they had sold the CD in the school, that one track about shooting up a school, constituted criminal terrorizing. The song talked mostly about killing teachers, the principal and the vice principal. Making the school board very concerned. Where criminal terrorizing is enforceable by the court of law they two were still expelled within forty-eight hours of the first copy of there CD being sold. The court sided with the school and said the two kids first amendment rights were not violated, and the two were not to go within 500 yards of school grounds.
The school board listened to the situation and that made some serious safety questions arise. They then made the calm that it was not safe for the two to remain in the school system, in fear for the safety of teachers and students alike. The administration substantial evidence that the two were security threats, because this wasn’t there first offence and therefore expelled the kids from the Bucksport system for good.
A factual argument I have encountered is this, why are Asian and Chinese students better at math when compared to students in the United States. I always knew this was true, but I use to think it was because there schools were so much more demanding. Very few people would argue that American children are better at math than Asian children. What makes them better is what I am interested in, is it the way their schools are run, or is it something about their culture?
I would argue that it is their culture and their personalities. To prove this let’s look at a test that middle school aged kids take all around the world, the TIMSS. On the TIMSS exam students have to fill out a questionnaire about their lifestyle and so on its very long (120 questions long) all that before they even take the actual test, most of students don’t answer all of the questions. Here is the interesting part, if you compare the math rankings on the TIMSS to the amount of answers that were correct on the questionnaire they are exactly the same. (Outliers) Why is this?
My answer is that math maybe isn’t so much a skill that some just get and some don’t, maybe it is directly related to how hard a person works, perseverance. All these years American schools have been trying to figure out what they’re doing differently than schools in Asia. Maybe it has nothing to do with the schools maybe it’s the student’s background. If this is so why are American children giving up what is it about our culture that makes us give up so easily? Does it have to do with how we are brought up and raised, or is it simply ‘the way we are’?
Maybe it has to do with all the crazy technologies we have become accustomed to. Everything from the TV to all the video games we have, or to the TV remote. Americans are all about things that involve less work for them to do, they don’t want to get off of the couch to change the channel, someone invents a remote. It is the way we work in America, we are becoming more and more lazy.So my factual argument is maybe, we need to change the way our society works, not the way our schools do, we need to change the way children our brought up, it can’t be ‘okay’ for anyone to give-up.
Arguments of fact are like many other types of arguments we have studied. Although the arguments are not based completely on emotions or character, they have some logos based arguments within them. These types of arguments are based on the facts of certain situations within society. There is usually facts that go for the situation then there are many facts that may show that the original situation may not actually be true. Arguments of facts make us explore a whole different depth of questions and answers that do not come very easily. A lot of the arguments come from myths or misconceptions that may or may not be true. Such as are seat belts safer alone then with booster seats, is a picture really what a photographer is trying to prove it is, and is driving while talking on a cell phone Is comparable to driving under the influence.
A factual argument that I have found myself in that I know is a losing battle but it should still raises questions is whether or not traffic violations should lead to higher insurances. The facts on the table are going to show that while speeding, you are putting yourself in a high risk to be in an accident. Has it been proving that more accidents have happened while someone was actually speeding? Or was it simply because that person was a bad driver and would have crashed anyways? Could a lack of speed due to the fact you might get a speeding ticket, cause you to have an accident due to the fact you are not keeping up with traffic? Speed is seen as danger in society but some people can handle themselves speeding in only certain areas when it is safe to do so.
Another factual argument is should someone’s insurance be raised if someone is caught underage with alcohol in their vehicle. Yes, it is illegal and the people should be punished accordingly, yet the insurance should not be affected. Because someone made the choice to put it in their vehicle and not drink it where they were before they got into their vehicle shows some maturity past the point that they already have it in their possession. Is someone apt to get in an accident because of the beer in their back seat? In society it would be seen as no big deal because the person should not have been doing it and they will now pay the price. But, do the facts back this up?
A factual argument lets you raise questions about the facts given in a particular situation. In these types of arguments a claim should be made about the fact that is surprising or controversial. When making a claim about given facts your job is to challenge or correct them. Factual arguments are not based on character but rather the evidence.
A factual argument that I have encounter would be from this past winter when we had a snow storm. I had made plans with a friend who I haven’t seen since we went off to college. We wanted to meet up with each other when we were both free and this snowy day happened to be the only day my friend could meet up since she was only home for a week. The day had come and I looked out the window and saw the snowy weather, the snow was starting to pile up and it wasn’t looking too good. Although I knew that I probably shouldn’t go out and drive having been warned by the news, I really wanted too. The weather man was talking about how this storm was going to turn out to be quite a substantial amount and that it would be best to stay inside.
In my mind I was having an argument on whether or not I should go out or not. Even though the weather man was giving me the facts about the conditions of the roads and how bad of a storm it was going to be, I was still questioning myself. I knew that what the weather person was saying was right and that he had the facts to back it up; he was letting people know he was concerned for their safety. In the end even with all the information I had gotten, I decided to take a chance and go out. I knew that it wasn’t the smartest thing to do but it was the only chance I had to see my friend before she left to go back to school.
Athena Beaulieu
3/17/09
R&C II
Factual Arguments
In chapter 7 the concept of factual arguments was presented based upon “hard evidence”, and facts. It also shows you how to characterize a factual argument according to the book “they are driven by perception and evidence” (182). In addition they can be a “phenomenon or behavior, exploring questions such as what if? Or how come? “They are also motivated by simple human curiosity or suspicion” (182). All your facts and evidence are dependent on the audience that the information is being presented to. The book goes on to explain how to format a factual argument identifying an issue, researching your hypothesis, refining your claim, deciding which evidence to use, then present your evidence. Reading this chapter reminds me of a factual argument that took place over spring break between me and my Nana.
As my Nana and I were casually talking over lunch the touchy subject of stem cell research came up. She asked me how I felt about Obama allowing the scientific community to conduct stem cell research to possibly create cures for diseases. I told her that I was intrigued and interested in the subject in hopes that they did find a cure for some of the major diseases that kill Americans every day. I would love for cancer to be cured because seeing a close childhood friend die of cancer was a difficult time in my life. I think this is an important step in the medical field, and could get very controversial. My Nana gave her opinion about the issue and seemed to know a lot about it because she worked in the medical field before she retired. She went on to explain that they use an embryo from a mother’s womb use the stem cells and then discard them. She also mentioned that the reason why we have not been able to start this research was because some people and different religions believe it is unethical to take a life. In my opinion it might sound harsh but look how many lives we would save if we could find cures for several different diseases.
An embryo doesn’t have a heart beat yet and so why would it be taking a life? I guess time will tell as more and more people become involved with this medical breakthrough. My Nana also made a valid point that the people who are against this could be saying that the embryos will be sold on the black market or just selling them for money instead of using them for scientific purposes. I think that it will not happen because the scientist are going to use them and then get rid of them so no one can use them again. In this simple argument between me and my Nana and reading this chapter I realized that the facts that were brought up had specific evidence to back them. My hypothesis for this subject was that stem cell research will help cure the sick, and will be for the greater good of our growing country. As we talked we backed up our side of the argument although we both agreed that Stem cell research was a positive thing and not negative. A factual argument lets us see both sides as well as presenting valid points for our position on the issue.
Chapter 7 discusses arguments based on facts. To develop a factual argument, you must first identify an issue, research your hypothesis, refine your claim, decide which evidence to use and present it, and then consider design and visuals. Factual are driven by perceptions and evidence and address a vast number of issues and questions.
Having just switched into the nursing program I know that in my future I will be faced with several arguments about the relationship between healthcare and religion. A lot of patients rely on religion to cope with their illnesses, but can it be proven that religion play a role in their recovery? After doing some research I have found that patients who rely on religion are more likely to use intensive life-prolonging care. They may decide to undergo treatments with higher risks than those who are not so religious. Why? Because they trust that God will heal them. So the argument is whether or not their religious beliefs help them or is it their willingness for more treatment?
A study showed that 10 percent of people who had high levels of religious coping died in the intensive care unit, as opposed to the 4.2 percent that had lower levels. Religion can offer patients a sense of meaning, comfort, and control when facing life-threatening illnesses, but can it heal them too? The same study also showed that 57 percent of randomly surveyed adults said divine intervention could save a deathly ill family member even if physicians said treatment would not work. For many physicians, it’s a complicated and uncomfortable line between faith and science. Although this constant argument is factual, it is hard to present evidence based on religion. Therefore, the only type of evidence that could be used is studies of the outcomes of terminally ill patients compared to whether they are religious or not.
Most factual arguments are seen from reputable sources. Often newspapers, television shows like the history channel, or news stations. It is common to see charities and people who are trying to raise money for a cause to use factual arguments. Factual arguments are useful when a person is trying to argue something very controversial or outrageous. Or they can be used simply to re-educate a misinformed person. If someone is dead set on believing that eating a spoonful of cayenne pepper will help you fight off a cold faster, the person may need to be confronted with clear facts showing fallacy in order to change their mind. If the argument has facts backing it up, it is hard to ignore or overlook.
When my sister decided to move to California, a factual argument arose. I said that she was crazy, and was moving to a very unsafe place to live. I argued that there were fires, and earthquakes, sometimes unsafe water, power outages, and not to mention the danger of crime. She was unconvinced and not fazed by my rampage on horrible things in California. I then came back to my computer and looked up information on all of the natural disasters, printed them and gave them to her, figuring I could let the facts due the talking for me. This was more effective. She responded and without a good defense, as it is hard to argue against facts. Her rebuttal was finding facts that argued how different places and things were more unsafe than California. Overall our argument turned into fact on fact, and eventually we gave up. Although overall I was unsuccessful in my argument, since she did move to California. I feel that this was a good example of a factual argument. We argued the safety of California, and used facts to back up our arguments.
A factual argument is an attempt to establish whether something is or is not so. By using factual arguing you may try to prove whether something exists or whether claims made about something are true. People don’t ordinarily argue factual matters that are settled or agreed upon or that might be decided with simple research or the equivalent of a rule. A factual argument can be used to prove a previous expression wrong. Facts become arguments when they’re controversial in themselves or when they’re used to educate people, challenging or changing their beliefs. Arguments of fact report on what has been recently discovered or become known. Such arguments may also explore the implications of that new information and the conflicts that may follow from it. For example there are many questions raised on whether meal replacement drinks are sufficient in the average person’s diet. Healthy skepticism is the common attitude now, rather than simple acceptance of what the scientific community reports.
Serious factual arguments almost always have consequences, especially those that touch on public issues. Such as Will the Social Security trust fund really go broke? Various publics, national or local, need well-reasoned factual arguments on subjects of this kind in order to make well-informed decisions. Such arguments educate audiences. For the same reason, we need arguments that correct or challenge beliefs and assumptions held widely within a society on the basis of inadequate or incomplete information. For instance it is wildly debated on how the earth was created. There are of course many who believe in God and his six days of creation, some who like the big bang theory and those researchers who conduct countless studies on the universe and where the planets come from and what causes humans to inhabit these grounds. All of these seem to have their own proofs behind them and as research continues we use factual arguments to prove our case and persuade individuals to see and believe the new found facts.