昊 天 翱 龙

TOPIC: ARGUMENT96 - The following appeared in a magazine focusing on health and fitness.

"A recent study of several nutritional supplements showed that subjects who took a daily pill containing luceen had significantly better vision of distant objects than subjects in the study who took other nutritional supplements. Luceen appears naturally in a tasty fruit that grows on the island of Bonopia, and very few inhabitants of that island wear eyeglasses or other corrective lenses. Such evidence suggests that people who develop vision problems should take regular luceen supplements."
WORDS: 436          TIME: 00:30:00          DATE: 2008-03-27 19:46:33

The author suggests that people who have vision problems should take regular luceen supplements. The author's suggestion relies on two main evidence: (1)a recent study that showed subjects who took a daily pill containing luceen had significantly better vision of distant objects that subjects in the study who took other nutritional supplements. (2)The fact that very few inhabitants of the island of Bonopia, where a tasty fruit containing luceen grows, wear eyeglasses or other corrective lenses. A scrutiny of both two evidence indicates that the suggestion is logically flawed as it stands.

First of all, the author does not provide any detail about the study, such as the number of the subjects in the study, the time the study lasted, the supllements that researchers offered to subjects, or how the study was taken. We have adaquate reason to doubt the statistical credibilty of the study. Perhaps the study only took a few days, so that luceen even didn't have enough time to function in the subject's body, and in the meanwhile it is another kind of material that actually contributes to a better vision of objects; or perhaps the subjects who took other nutritional supplements instead of luceen are originally near-sighted people. Therefore, we cannot draw any convincing conclusion from the study, and as a result, the suggestion that the author proposes has no basis.

As the second evidence is concerned, the mere fact that most inhabitant of Bonopia, do not wear eyeglasses or other correcive lenses also fails to prove that luceen can effectively promote one's eyesight. It is possible that the island of Bonopia is still an undeveloped region of the world, few eyeglasses or similar products are available in that area, so it is nature that very few residents of the island wear eyeglasses, even if they are actually near-sighted.

Even assuming that the reason why the majority residents of the island do not wear eyeglasses is that they indeed have good vision of objects, I am not convinced that the good eyesight is due to the inhabitants' eating the fruit containing luceen. Perhaps there are other causes that lead to a general high level of vision in the Bonopia region.

In sum, the author's suggestion that people should take regular luceen supplements to solve vision problems is unconvincing. The author should give more information about the study that he cites, to enhance the credbility of the first evidence. And he should also give more convincing evidence that the inhabitants of Bonopia do not need eyeglasses is mainly because their habits of regularly taking luceen fruits benifit to their vision of distant objects.