Logical Reasoning

PT14 · S4 · Q4 Many economically useful raw materials

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Many economically useful raw materials are nonrenewable and in limited supply on Earth.

Conclusion (therefore)

Unless economically useful raw materials can be obtained somewhere other than Earth, people will eventually be unable to accomplish what they now accomplish using those materials.

Evidence

Many economically useful raw materials are nonrenewable and in limited supply on Earth.

Evaluate

GIVEN THAT many useful raw materials are nonrenewable and will (presumably?) run out one day,

HOW CAN WE ARGUE THAT even if we don't find these raw materials in space or on another planet, people will still be able to accomplish what they now accomplish using those materials?

Well, fossil fuel is an easy example that comes to mind. We currently accomplish "powering our cars" with fossil fuels. One day those fuels may run out, but couldn't we still accomplish "powering our cars" with some other form of energy like solar?

To weaken this argument, we should look for an alternative way to accomplish the tasks that currently depend on these nonrenewable resources, or find reasons why the depletion won't stop us from accomplishing these tasks (e.g., discovering substitutes or reducing dependence).

Goal

Let's find an answer that suggests how societies can continue to accomplish their aims even if these nonrenewable resources are not available from other sources.

Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?

Some economically useful resources are
No Impact
The argument is about nonrenewable resources and what we accomplish using them (and whether we can still accomplish that stuff without them). Renewable resources would only be relevant to this conversation if we were told that we can use them to accomplish tasks we currently use nonrenewable resources for.
4% picked this
It is extremely difficult to
No Impact
It's totally irrelevant whether there are more materials beyond Earth and if so whether we could feasibly obtain them. The conditional conclusion tells us to pretend we're in the world where "we CANNOT get these nonrenewable resources elsewhere." It said, "If we can't get these nonrenewable resources elsewhere, then we won't be able to continue accomplishing the same tasks we currently can." With conditional conclusions, we always play along with the trigger. We essentially accept is as another premise, another given to workaround as we debate the outcome.
3% picked this
Correct
Functionally equivalent renewable substitutes could
Why this is right
If functionally equivalent renewable substitutes for nonrenewable resources could be found, then we would not need to obtain those resources from elsewhere to maintain current accomplishments. This directly weakens the argument by presenting an alternative scenario where tasks can be maintained despite the depletion of nonrenewable resources. The term "functionally equivalent" is allowing us to know that we can accomplish the same tasks. These renewables will "work the same way".
Skill tested: Weaken · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.
88% picked this
What is accomplished now using
No Impact
This is about what's worth doing, but the conclusion is about what we'd be able to do. Those are two different conversations.
1% picked this
It will be a few
No Impact
The conclusion is not about when the depletion will happen but what the effect of that depletion will be. Suggesting it will take several hundred years doesn't affect the argument's prediction about the eventual inability to maintain current accomplishments without these nonrenewable resources or an alternative.
3% picked this

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