Babson: The idea of charging

Answer choices

1. A

   Disagree Unsupported6% picked this

   people will routinely part with money under circumstances in which it is considered customary

   We know Cortez would agree with this, but we don't know Babson's position on whether people routinely part with money when it's customary. It's likely that Babson would agree, since it's almost a self-justifying statement: if it's considered customary to do X, then presumably people routinely do X There's no way we could support the idea that Babson disagrees with this, that she believes that "people don't routinely part w/ money when it's customary to do so".

   6%
2. B

   Both Positions Unsupported6% picked this

   people in countries in which tipping is customary are more likely than people in other countries to be willing to pay a dollar to

   We couldn't infer from either person's statements whether they agree or disagree with this unknown comparison between two different types of countries.

   6%
3. C

   Disagree Unsupported Too Strong: impossible21% picked this

   it is possible to write articles and essays for which some people would pay a dollar each to read online even where social customs

   We would definitely argue that Babson agrees with this. But could we argue that Cortez disagrees with this? The disagreement take on this claim is super strong: it is impossible to write articles or essays for which even one person would pay a dollar to read online, in an area where social customs don't already make it customary to pay for articles. Cortez is making a softer disagreement: it's a bad sign. He is definitely not optimistic about this business model, but everyone in the world think it's possible to write an article/essay for which some (at least one) person would pay a dollar to read online. When I had my first crush in 8th grade and my friend Lamar talked to her to find out if she liked me -- if she had published her response online and charged a dollar, then I would have proven the idea that it is possible to write an article for which some people would pay a dollar to read online. Cortez probably believes that writers could get their moms and their guilt-ridden friends to pay $1 to read some of their online articles; he just doesn't think it's going to take off.

   21%
4. D

   Correct63% picked this

   people’s attitudes toward tipping suggest that the idea of charging a dollar to read individual articles and essays online will be successful as long

   Why this is right

   Babson would agree with this, since she says that if the quality is high enough, people will pay a dollar to read articles / essays online. She supports this by mentioning that people routinely reward quality service with tips over a dollar, to support the idea that a dollar isn't much money. Babson is arguing with classic Comparative logic, "If they don't mind tipping for quality (service) in case A, then they won't mind paying for quality (writing) in case B". Cortez disagrees with this leap. by pointing to a salient difference: "They don't mind tipping in case A, because it's customary to tip in those cases. It's not customary to tip in case B, so we don't have good reason to think the same will be true when it comes to case B." Cortez says "the fact that people don't currently pay for articles and essays", which is a reference to people's attitudes toward tipping, "is a bad sign for this plan", which is saying "does not suggest this plan will work".

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

   63%
5. E

   Disagree Unsupported5% picked this

   most people are likely to find the idea of paying a dollar to read individual articles and essays online

   While Babson doesn't get as quantitatively precise as most people, she does acknowledge that the idea of charging money for online articles is a novel idea, so she would probably assume that most other people would also consider it a novel idea. Classic Babson. Always assuming that "what's true in one case will be true in a somewhat related case". But we have no support that Cortez would disagree, that he thinks "under 50% of people would find this idea novel (i.e. different / innovative / new)".

   5%