Analogy #1: "You Wouldn't Steal Term Paper

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This discussion of value, however, does not take into account religious viewpoints on the relative value of each human soul. If each embryo is theoretically imbued with a soul and each soul has limitless value, then the balance shifts.

Argument from Statistics #1 (total): "In 1976, Washington, D.C., enacted one of the most restrictive gun control laws in the nation. Since then, the city's murder rate has risen 134% while the national murder rate has dropped 2%. Gun control doesn't work."

This is a weak argument from statistics, because the murder rate is not limited to murders committed with guns. Moreover, a number of factors could contribute to the city's rise in murders (e.g. cutbacks in the police force) having absolutely nothing to do with guns and gun control one way or the other.

Argument from Statistics #2 (total): "Terrorist attacks worldwide have increased fourfold since the Iraq war, so the U.S. should not have invaded Iraq." middling argument. Though terrorist attacks have certainly increased in Iraq and Afghanistan as a response to American troops, terrorist attacks in other parts of the country are not necessarily linked. Moreover, the increase in attacks might be due to an emboldening of terrorists following 9/11, and not completely in reaction to the United States' reaction to 9/11.

Argument from Statistics #3 (ratio): "Four out of five of the oranges in this basket are sweet. Consequently, 80% of all the oranges in this basket are sweet."

This is a compelling statistics-based argument only if the basket contains a small number of oranges. The greater the number of oranges, the less comfortable one becomes with this ratio analysis.

Argument from Statistics #4 (ratio): "All the ducks in my pond are black, so all ducks are black."

An obviously poor and narrow-minded use of an observable statistical ratio. Just because 100% of the ducks you observe are black, this does not mean that all ducks are black in all parts of an ecologically diverse planet.

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Argument from Statistics #5 (frequency): "Humans don't usually live to be a hundred, so I won't live to a hundred."

Compelling frequency argument, unless some technological or health advancement makes it so that even if humans did not live to 100 up until this point, the promise for doing so has greatly increased for me.

Argument from Statistics #6 (frequency): "A Democrat has not been elected to public office in Alabama in many years, so we can expect the electoral votes from Alabama in the upcoming Presidential election to go to a Republican."

Strong argument, because voting trends tend to be stable and pendulum shifts happen incrementally. This is not to say, however, that if it was discovered that John McCain was, say, an adulterer, that it might not shift the party loyalty of Alabama voters.

Argument from Statistics #7 (distribution): "Over 90% of people believe in God, so God exists." weak argument, because the vast majority of people used to believe many things that no longer are considered true (e.g. The earth is flat).

Argument from Statistics #8 (distribution): "Blacks are overrepresented in criminal statistics, so black people are more prone to crime than white people." middling argument. Black people are statistically more likely to commit crimes, but they are also more likely to be prosecuted for crimes white people would not get prosecuted for and/or more likely to be convicted by juries. Moreover, the above statement is an indictment of the conditions many black people live in, rather than a statement about black people themselves.

Argument from Statistics #9 (average): "The Red Sox have won 2 championships in the last 4 years, so they can be expected to win half of the championships for the duration of Major League Baseball." poor argument. Sports teams rise and fall based on (in)effective management, financial resources, player injuries, etc. A successful extended run during one incarnation of a team does not necessarily equate with continued dominance......

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