Discussion 3

11 July Poor Argument Examples I often hear poor arguments in my everyday conversations. Some examples are discussed here; My sister often starves and says she is dieting. While she starves throughout the day, she can no longer hold it in the night and thus ends up eating more than she would have otherwise. When I tell her that starving is not dieting, she argues saying that both are the same, and goes on to say that I am not a nutritionist, so I better keep my opinion to myself. I find this argument very poor as it is an example of ad hominem. Rather than taking my opinion serious, my sister shoves it away just because I am not a nutritionist. I think one does not have to be a nutritionist to differentiate between starving and dieting.
My uncle and I are very close, more like friends. He has done doctorate in comparative religions. Once, I fell ill. He came to see me. He said, “ I am a doctor, doctors can cure illness in patients, so I can cure your illness.” I took it as a joke because it was meant to be one. It was a poor argument as it was not deductively valid. While it was true that he is a doctor, and that doctors can cure illness in patients, the conclusion that he could cure my illness was false as he was a doctor of comparative religions, not a medical doctor.
My mother often says that every person has equal mind and intelligence and thus can score the highest in academics, but I find disagree with her saying that different people have different IQ levels. When I say so, she becomes emotional and says, “ None of my children has a lower IQ level than any other. I know my children. They are all very brainy. Period.” I find this argument very poor as my brother is very weak in studies whereas my academic performance is much better than his. By saying that all her children are very brainy, my mother tries to make emotional appeal.
Once I was on a weight-loss plan. I was following a particular diet pattern, which was based on balanced meals. I was taking both vegetables and meat with certain limits on both. My brother told me to leave consuming meat altogether and instead drink more of fresh juices. I disagreed because fresh juices contain a lot of natural sugars and drinking too much of them is not recommendable in a weight-loss plan, but my brother said, “ Go ask anybody. He would recommend you to drink fresh juices to lose weight.” I know there is a lot of misconception about the effects of fresh juice consumption on weight. I find this argument poor as it is an example of ad populum.
Drinking a lot of water is recommended by doctors because of its positive effects on health. I have made drinking at least fifteen glasses of water a day my habit, but my sister does not like it. Having noticed that I drink so much water, she says that it is not good for health since it makes blood thinner and more diluted. I asked her who told her that. She said, “ You can ask grandma. She has a life-time of knowledge and experience.” I find this argument poor as it is an example of appeal to authority.