blog 2

2. I will die.
     Therefore, I smoked cigarettes.

3. a: I smoke cigarette
    b: I will die
    x: me

4. This argument is valid but not true

5. If I smoke cigarettes, then I will die.

6.

P	Q	P--->Q
T	T	T
T	F	F
F	T	T
F	F	F

this argument is not a tautology because it does not always prove to be true and does not make sense in real life as a conditional statement because you will not die immediately solely from smoking cigarettes. You can die, however, from getting "hooked" and possibly causing other fatal conditions like lung cancer.

7. The source isn't clear- I found this ad on google images but the argument that smoking can lead to death is a hot topic and true argument. The only "hidden agenda" in this ad is to get people to stop smoking because the fish gets "hooked", which is how fish die. It does not conflict with other things I know but the ad is definitely bias towards the fact that smoking causes death. Although getting hooked on cigarettes can lead to other diseases that could kill you, smoking itself does not actually kill you.

8. Yes I think this argument appeals to emotion, which is one of the common fallacies. It makes you emotional enough to the point that if you love your body, you will not smoke. People do not want to die and so they will try to stay away from things that are bad for them.

9. This assignment helped me to think more critically about media influence because the ad that I analyzed did not prove to be true. This ad is showing a very extreme side to smoking cigarettes (a fish getting hooked and dying because of it) in order to scare people away from it so much that they will never try it. Although that is the point of the ad, we should not accept everything we see in media today exactly as we see it because it is a radical side of the argument, trying to prove a point.

Blog 2

Margot Hudson

Blog 2

10/6

1.     Claimà Drinking Red Bull gives you wings.

2. Those who drink red bull grow wings (A)

I drank red bull (B)

Now I have wings (B)

3.

4. Argument is valid but not sounds

5. If you drink red bull (A) then you will grow wings (B)

I drank red bull

Now I have wings

A	B	AàB
True	False	True
False	False	True
False	True	True
True	False	False

6a. The statement isn’t a tautology

6b. The statement doesn’t make sense in real life because red bull doesn’t make you grow wings, it makes you energized.

6c. Obviously, the truth table gave me a mathematical reason why the statement wasn’t true but it wasn’t true in a realistic context either.

7. 5 Steps to Evaluating Media

                  1. Consider the sourceàno scientific credibility why Red Bull would give you wings

      2. Check the dateà In 2014, Red Bull was sued because no one grew wings and they soon after changed their mind

      3.  Validate accuracyà cannot validate claim from other sources

      4. Watch for hidden agendas

      5. Don’t miss the big pictureàboth of these tie together in this case. The hidden agenda is that Red Bull wants you to buy their product and the big picture is that Red Bull was never actually trying to convince people they would grow wings and have the ability to fly. It was more of a way to express how drinking Red Bull would make a customer feel.

8. Yes, it falls into c) when you can’t prove it to be true, you assume it to be false.

9. It did help give me a refresh on evaluating media sources however I took a class in high school where we analyzed sources so I knew most of the guidelines for evaluating a media source.

Blog 2 *LATE*

Blog #2

Part A:

1)   American Heart Association guidelines recommend that middle-aged adults engage in at least 2 hours and 30 minutes per week of exercise to avoid risk of heart disease and failure.

2)    Major: Engage in 2 hours and 30 minutes per week of exercise

Minor: Exercise reduces chances of heart disease and failure

Conclusion: Engaging 2 hours and 30 minutes of exercise per week reduces chances of heart disease and failure

3)   Valid, both p and q are true

4)    

a.     Valid and true (sound), conclusion follows the premises

5)   If you exercise 2 hours and 30 minutes a week then you will avoid risk of heart disease and failure.

6)   PQ (P->Q)  (Q->P) (P->Q) V (Q->P)   Yes it is a tautology

     TT       T          T                      T

     FT        F          F                      T

    TF        T          T                      T

     FF        T          T                      T

a.     Yes, exercise has been proven to reduce risk of heart disease and failure.

b.     The statement is a tautology and makes sense in real life

c.      Truth tables can help determine the tautology (or lack there of) in an argument

7)    

a.     Consider source: Its reliable, comes from the American Heart Association

b.     Check the date: This was updates February of this year

c.      Validate accuracy: The premises and conclusion are both true in real life and were concluded after research

d.     Watch for hidden agendas: Not sure what they would gain from this information, I don’t see a hidden agenda

e.     Don’t miss the big picture: I mostly trust the information, however I haven’t seen the research myself

8)   No

9)   It has made me think more about what research is conducted to come to these conclusions.

Blog #2

Blog #2

1. “One glass of beetroot juice a day will significantly reduce blood pressure in patients with high blood pressure.”
1. Major Premise: One glass of beetroot juice a day will significantly decrease your blood pressure, if you have high blood pressure.
2. Minor Premise: Katie has high blood pressure.
3. Conclusion: Therefore, Katie can reduce her blood pressure by drinking a glass of beetroot juice everyday.

4. This argument is valid because Katie has high blood pressure and all people with high blood pressure can decrease their blood pressure by drinking beetroot juice(according to this argument). However, it is not true because you cannot directly correlate beetroot juice and decreased B.P. in one study. Who knows if it really works for everyone, or anyone really.

5.

P: If you drink one glass of beetroot juice everyday

Q: your B.P. will decrease significantly(if you have high B.P.)

6.

~P if you do not drink one glass of beetroot juice everyday

~Q your B.P. will not decrease

1. If ~P-->~Q
2. ~P

1. This is a tautology. However, it does not make sense in real life because your high blood pressure could decrease from something other than beetroot juice.
2. No it does not. ^^^
3. They can help support the validity of an argument but not whether it is true or not.

7.

a. The source was not very reliable, it made claims on something that they had only done one study on.

b. This is a recent publication but that doesn’t mean it’s reliable.

c. The premise does not tell us why the beetroot works, nor does it have proof that we can correlate drinking beetroot juice and lower B.P.

d. Wasn’t an advertisement, so I’m not sure if there was a hidden agenda.

e. The big picture is the amazing powers of beetroot rather than the issues regarding high B.P.

8. I think the argument is an example of the False Cause fallacy because I'm sure someone has decided to drink beetroot juice everyday and then noticed a decrease in their high blood pressure, but we do not have enough evidence to correlate drinking beetroot juice and decreasing high B.P.

9. I think this experiment sort of helped me think more critically about media information. I think it is really important to try and uncover what an article/reading is trying to say. Are they advertising or just trying to inform? I think it’s also important to check several sources and see if the results match up. It is not smart to read one article and assume it is true.

Blog 2

blog 2

1. eating dark chocolate can help you lose weight

2. - eating dark chocolate helps you weight
1. I ate dark chocolate
2. therefore i lost weight

3. A- lose weight

B-Eat dark chocolate

X- you

4. it is valid because it follows the premise and its sound because according to the study it is true.

5. if i eat more dark chocolate then i will lose weight

P	Q	P--->Q
T	T	T
T	F	F
F	T	T
F	F	F

this argument is not a tautology and it also doesn’t make too much sense in real life.

7. The source doesn’t seem too reliable but it is still relevant. There are probably other studies that have made the same claim/conclusion on this topic. I kind of feel like the whole study/claim being made is a little suspicious because eating chocolate everyday doesn’t sound like it would be healthy for you no matter what. I don’t think there is a hidden agenda. This study still doesn’t make too much sense to me. Growing up I was always told that too much candy and chocolate is not healthy for you because of the amount of sugar in it. I’m not sure how you could resolve this conflict but maybe you could look at other sources to really find out if the test is true.
8. I think the argument could fall under the False Cause fallacy. If somebody ate dark chocolate and then later found out they lost weight they might think it was because they ate the dark chocolate

9. It was interesting to see the content we have discussed in class in the media and in magazines. This experiment was a little confusing at time but over all it helped me think more critically about media information. So many advertisements or businesses make claims so it was cool to look at those claims and figure out if they are valid or if they actually make sense in real life