Blog 2

In class today we focused on the basics of arguments such as, what an argument is and the different types of arguments. A general argument is a "series of statements intended to determine the degree of truth of another statement, the conclusion." In other words, an argument is not only trying to prove a point to someone, but trying the prove the truth of a statement to others, or even yourself. One specific type of an argument is an academic argument. These arguments have supports such as claims, reasons, and evidence which help to prove the truth because facts are being used to convey the point. Academic arguments also use counterarguments in order to respond to other arguments and debunk them or use them to their advantage. Academic arguments force us to look into facts and perspectives of others in order to convey the truth. Arguments can also be deductive or inductive. A deductive argument is an argument in which the premises determine the conclusion. If a person believes the premises to to be false, then the conclusion must also be false for the argument to be valid/ sound. In order for the conclusion to be true, both premises must be true as well. An example of this is, if you have two premises one being, cheetahs are the fastest animals on earth (true premise) and the other being, cheetahs run 30 miles per hour (false premise), the conclusion has to be false. An inductive argument is an argument in which the truth of the premise leads to the probability that the conclusion will be true. A true premise in an inductive argument causes the argument to be strong. An example of an inductive argument is, fossil fuels are being used up at an alarming rate (true premise), leading to the conclusion that we will run out of fossil fuels in about ten years. All arguments include a line of reasoning. This is a tool used in arguments to lead the audience to the conclusion. The line includes multiple clear and logical reasons to lead the argument to the truth. The line of reasoning also includes claims which are points made by the speaker to support the argument and evidence which is the facts used in the argument to prove the truth. 

Claim: The Marvel movie series is better than the Back to the Future movie series.

Reasoning: Marvel is the highest grossing movie series of all time, the movies have similar if not better ratings than the Back to the Future, and there are more options to choose from since there are more films.

Evidence: "Marvel" has grossed 22.55 billion dollars overall while "Back to the Future" has only grossed 975.2 million dollars. "Back to the Future" has a rating of 96% on rotten tomatoes and 8.5/10 on IMDB, "Back to the Future 2" has a rating of 66% on Rotten Tomatoes and 7.8/10 on IMDB, and "Back to the Future 3" has a rating of 80% on Rotten Tomatoes and 7.4/10 on IMDB. "Black Panther" has a rating of 96% on Rotten Tomatoes and 7.3/10 on IMDB, "Iron Man" has a rating of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes and 7.9/10 on IMDB, "Avengers Endgame" has a rating of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes and 8.4/10 on IMDB. Finally, "Marvel" has 24 movies while "Back to the Future" only has 3. Also, "Avengers Endgame" grossed 2.79 billion dollars which is more than the entire "Back to the Future" series. 

Write the best brief argument you can to justify each of the following claims to someone who does not believe them.

1. Nine is not a prime number.: Nine can be divided by 3 to get 3.
2. Seven is a prime number.: Seven can only be multiplied by one and itself.
3. A molecule of water has three atoms in it.: The formula for water is H2O.
4. Water is not made up of carbon.: The formula for water contains oxygen, not carbon.
5. The U.S. president lives in Washington, D.C.: The president lives in the White House which is located in Washington, D.C.

6. The Earth is not flat.: Nasa has photos of the Earth and what they know it looks like.

7. Humans have walked on the moon.: We have video evidence of the first man on the moon.
8. Most bicycles have two wheels.: Bi means two, therefore bicycle means two wheels.