Logical Reasoning

PT152 · S1 · Q14 Pratt: Almost all cases of rabies in humans

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Pratt: Almost all cases of rabies in humans come from being bitten by a rabid animal, and bats do carry rabies.

Conclusion

There's no good reason for removing any bats residing in building where people work or live.

Evidence

The supposed reason is that bats could potentially spread rabies to humans, but bats are shy and rarely bite, and only a tiny slice of the bat population has rabies.

Evaluate

Given That (evidence) Bats are shy are rarely bite, and very few have rabies

How Can We Argue That (anti-conclusion) There is good reason to get rid of the bats that live in building where people work or live?

Well, we can take two different angles, I suppose: 1. Try to defend the idea of a rabies risk 2. Accept that the risk of rabies is low, but think of other reasons why we should remove bats from buildings that have humans

Given that bats are shy and rarely bite, and that more than 90% of bats don't have rabies, how can it be a rabies risk?

Well, it sounds like it's certainly a possibility. They rarely bite, but sometimes they bite. A huge majority doesn't have rabies, but some do.

Goal

Look for an answer trying to argue that the rabies risk is non-negligible, or coming up with some other reason we should get rid of bats (they're noisy, they spread other diseases LIKE CORONAVIRUS!, etc.)

14.

Which one of the following, if true, most weakens Pratt's argument?

  1. A rabid bat is much

    Strengthens

    This continues to downplay the threat of the bats ... Relax, they're more likely to give another bat rabies than to give a human rabies.

    7% picked this

  2. Correct

    Rabid bats are less mobile

    Why this is right

    This is an annoyingly mixed message correct answer, but it gives us a way to make the bat situation sound worse than the author was presenting. She was saying, "relax, they rarely bite, they're mostly shy", but this is saying, yes but when they have rabies, precisely when we'd need them to be shy, they are much more aggressive. It also waters down the threat a bit by saying they're less mobile than other bats, but this is still the best available answer because it makes the bats seem somewhat riskier to have around.

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

    62% picked this

  3. Most animals that carry rabies

    Strengthens, if Anything

    A generalization about most animals that carry rabies isn't going to be specific enough to give us a compelling objection about why we should get rid of bats. Plus, this says that this class of animals very rarely bites people, so it strengthens the author's case, if anything.

    24% picked this

  4. The bat species with the

    Out of Scope

    Out of Scope: bats not in buildings We're only here to assess whether we should get rid of the bats that are in the buildings, so we're only interested in learning more about them. Also, this makes bats that do live in buildings seem like less of a rabies risk, so it helps the author.

    3% picked this

  5. People are more likely to

    Out of Scope: aware of bite

    Bizarrely, this would also strengthen the argument, if anything. We certainly aren't focused on awareness of whether you've been bit, but common sense would tell us it's better if you're aware (so that you can get your rabies shots before the rabies sets in). So all other things being equal, you'd rather keep the bats in the building and get an inside-bite them kick them out of the building and get an outside-bite. But this conversation is insane. Awareness of whether you were bit is super far removed from whether or not bats should be removed from buildings where humans live/work.

    4% picked this

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