Advertisement: Hypnosis videos work

Answer choices

1. A

   Correct53% picked this

   overlooks a requirement that it states for the effectiveness of directions

   Why this is right

   Normally, when Flaw answers begin with fails to consider / overlooks the possibility, we read them more or less like answer choices on Weaken: if true, could this hurt the argument? could I use this idea as an objection? In this case, could we use the stated requirement for effectiveness as an objection? Yes! This gets to the Self-Undermining flaw we were pointing out. The ad states that "if something isn't repeated many times, it's not effective". That rule basically ruins the way the videos supposedly work. Supposedly, the initial command to experience everything as though it's been said 1,000 times is why these videos work so well. But the initial command isn't repeated many times, so it won't be effective. People won't actually follow its instruction, so they won't experience each subsequent instruction as though it was said 1,000 times.

   Skill tested: Flaw · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

   53%
2. B

   Too Strong: always directly proportional23% picked this

   takes for granted that the effectiveness of a direction to the subconscious is always directly proportional to the number of

   When answers start with takes for granted / presumes / fails to establish, we're just asking ourselves, "DID the author actually make this assumption?" We can't accuse this argument of committing to the idea that effectiveness is always directly proportional to number of times. That's Volume Dial language (the more x, the more y). We were only told in absolute language "if not repeated many times, not effective". The author doesn't need to assume that 20,000 repetition are precisely two times as effective as 10,000 repetitions.

   23%
3. C

   Bad Conclusion Match4% picked this

   concludes that hypnosis is the most effective technique for altering behavior without considering evidence

   Does the author conclude that hypnosis is the most effective technique for altering behavior? Not at all. The conclusion is "the subsequent instructions on Mesmosis videos are extremely effective". This answer is borrowing language from the first sentence of the stimulus, which was just a background claim.

   4%
4. D

   Not Circular18% picked this

   draws a conclusion that simply restates a claim presented in support

   This describes the famous Circular Reasoning flaw, which is almost never the correct answer. Circular arguments are ones in which the evidence restates or assumes the truth of the conclusion. The conclusion here was that "the subsequent instructions on Mesmosis videos are extremely effective". Was there a premise that also said that? Definitely not.

   18%
5. E

   Trap2% picked this

   concludes that hypnosis videos will be effective simply because they have never been proven

   Bad Evidence Match Not Unproven vs. Proven False This alludes to the famous Unproven vs. Proven False flaw, but the evidence in this argument has nothing to do with saying "No one has ever proven that hypnosis videos are ineffective".

   2%