A2.A planning consultant to the Banbridge Riverfront Festival Committee made the following recommendation to the committee.
“The Riverfront Festival drew 10,000 visitors — not bad for your first year. You should double that number, however, by bringing in the Jolly Pirate Ship. In St. Clyde, the Harbor Week Festival averaged 30,000 visitors per year over the last decade, but the attendance reached a high point of 45,000 a couple of years ago, when the Jolly Pirate was at the Harbor Week Festival. One of the organizers reported that the ship was especially popular with school groups. Have the Jolly Pirate Ship sail into the Riverfront Festival next summer, and your festival will be much more successful.”
My answer:
In this argument, the consultant recommends that The Riverfront Festival introduce the Jolly Pirate Ship so as to double the number of visitors to 20,000. To substantiate the conclusion, the consultant cites the example of the Harbor Week Festival that the Jolly Pirate Ship was introduced. Although the consultant believes that the recommendation will lead to the success, I wonder whether the recommendation bears much analysis. As far as I am concerned, the reasoning in this argument is unconvincing for several reasons.
In the first place, the consultant fails to provide more sound evidence and detailed information of the proposal. The consultant intends to convince us that the proposal will come true, but it does not prove it applicable to the situation of The Riverfront Festival. That is to say, the consultant should demonstrate the synopsis of the recommendation. Only based on the specific and concrete information about the proposal, can the customer judge and decide.
In the second place, the consultant commits a fallacy of “False Analogy”. In other words, the consultant fails to indicate the difference between two festivals, and unfairly assumes that the experience in the first case will be applicable in the second case. But as far as I am concerned, the consultant was appealing to his experience. In fact, the consultant did not do a careful research on the situation, and therefore the proposal is not compelling.
As it stands, the recommendation is not persuasive. To make it logically and practically acceptable, the consultant should provide more convincing evidence and get the conclusion well reasoned. Otherwise, the customer will not accept such simple a suggestion without sound reasons and feasible solutions.
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