woohoo921 wrote:
I understand why Choice D is the best answer. However, for Choice E,
the Official Guide says this is incorrect because if anything the lack of awareness around eco-cement makes it less likely that it will be used to help reduce CO2 in the atmosphere.
On the flipside, can't you argue that the lack of awareness would be an opportunity set for use (unpenetrated market) = greater potential for a reduction in CO2? Or am I making too many assumptions here in that there would need to be:
-marketing to reach these buyers
-these buyers would have to WANT to reduce CO2
-these buyers would be willing to use this new product
-etc.?
I often tell my students about what I call the Three Key Questions for arguments in CR:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfTcOr6zJjsThe three key questions are:
1). What would it mean for the conclusion to be false.
2). How could that happen, given that the premises are true?
3). What assumptions, then, must be true to save the argument?
This situation here is a good example of why that first one is so important. And to answer the first one, you have to first be very accurate in specify what the conclusion even is. Try that here. Specify the conclusion, and specify what it would mean for the conclusion to be wrong.
Look really close at the conclusion. It doesn't say, "CO2 will be reduced because of this product." It says "using this new concrete will reduce CO2."
If the conclusion is 'using the concrete will reduce CO2,' that conclusion would be wrong if 'using the concrete does NOT reduce CO2.'
The conclusion isn't wrong, really, if the concrete never gets used. Imagine the argument, "The minimum salary in the NFL is $620,000. So playing in the NFL is a good way to make a lot of money."
Does it strengthen the argument to say, "many people who, with hard work, could be talented enough to play in the NFL choose other career paths because they do not know how talented they could be."
Does that improve the argument that playing in the NFL is a good way to make money? Is someone's *awareness* of a strategy necessary for a strategy to be one that would work? Not at all. So whether people know about the option to use this material or not just doesn't matter to the truth of the conclusion.
Many industrialized nations are trying to reduce atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, a gas released by the burning of fossil fuels. One proposal is to replace conventional cement, which is made with calcium carbonate, by a new “eco-cement.” This new cement, made with magnesium carbonate, absorbs large amount of carbon dioxide when exposed to the atmosphere. Therefore, using eco-cement for new concrete building projects will significantly help reduce atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide.