People's behavior is determined largely by forces not of their own making. 

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim. In developing and supporting your position, be sure to address the most compelling reasons and/or examples that could be used to challenge your position.

The aphorism "You can do whatever you put your mind to!" seems to represent the pith of modern western, American, thought on human will and behavior. However, this claim oversimplifies an individual's strength against society. Although to a point, an individual can choose to behave exactly as one is willing, however, a helpless individual is bound to be affected (whether positively or negatively) by the forces of society. 

The Outlier, the single best-selling non-fiction of our time, author Gladwell compares two of the most intelligent individuals in America. Two men who had the top IQ's in America came out with different results in their lives. One man became a leading politician who was the mastermind behind the famous Manhattan Project, the other lived a rather mundane life in Ohio. What caused this divergence? Gladwell, agreed by many of his readers, points to the importance of perspiration over innate talent in guaranteeing an individual's success. The popularity of his conclusions in this book represents many people's belief that an individual can shape one's own success working sedulously enough.

It is true that one needs to put in the hours to succeed and become an outlier in the field, but one should not overlook the circumstances that allow for individuals to put in the effort. Bill Gates was born into an affluent family and had access to a computer lab at 17, at a time when computers were not widespread. It was because his high school had decided to invest in a computer lab that Bill Gates was able to toil numerous hours on the computer. A combination of luck and effort shaped his success.

Gainsayers to the claim that people's behaviors are determined largely by external forces would provide self-made millionaires as one of their most compelling evidence, that they were born into poor families and made themselves up. However, the rarity of such examples proves just that it is extremely difficult to overcome situations one is born into. If people's behavior were determined largely by their own making, it would not be as difficult for people to overcome poverty that has been handed down to them spanning multiple generations. The case is similar for minorities in corporate America. Strong-willed individuals work assiduously to climb the corporate ladder yet report to facing the "glass ceiling" or the "bamboo ceiling." It is reductionist to simply say to these people to "try harder" because "you can do anything you put your mind to!".

In conclusion, if an individual puts great effort into realizing his or her will, he or she is highly likely to achieve it. However, this does not mean that individuals are able to behave entirely according to their internal will. Situations not of their making will inevitably affect an individual's behavior and decisions. External forces may largely determine an individual's success.

Cetadone, a new therapy for the treatment of addiction to the illegal drug tarocaine, has been proven effective in a study by Regis Hospital in the western part of New Portsmouth. The study involved local tarocane addicts who responded to a newspaper ad offering free treatment. Participants who received cetadone and counseling were 40% more likely to recover than were patients assigned to a control group and receiving only counseling. conventional therapies have only a 20% recovery rate. Therefore the best way to reduce deaths from tarocaine overdoes throughout all of New Portsmouth would be to fund cetadone therapy for all tarocaine addicts.

Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to determine whether the argument is reasonable. Be sure to explain what affects the answers to these questions would have on the validity of the argument.


The author recommends the funding of cetadone for all tarocaine addicts, claiming the new treatment will reduce deaths from overdose throughout all of New Portsmouth. The author bases his logic on some fallacious grounds that must be strengthened through answering some critical questions.

The author bases his argument solely on the results of a study. Although the data he or she provides has to be taken as is, some parts of the study are questionable.

The first concerns sampling method of the study: Is the sample in the study representative of the population? Because the final recommendation is for "all of New Portsmouth," the sample should be appropriately representative of the whole population of tarocaine addicts in New Portsmouth. The author states that participants of the study responded to a newspaper ad offering free treatment. The sample was not randomly selected from the pool. Participants opted in. This could bias the sample accordingly. Perhaps people who were poorer volunteered, which may have biased the participants, in that the sample gathered may have less healthier diets, confounding the results of the study. Showing that, despite the sampling method, the sample gathered was random enough to represent the population would strengthen the author's recommendation.

A control group was used, differentiating no drug use and drug use. However, the author does not mention that the control group received a placebo. Could the results have been a placebo effect? The patients receiving the drug may have been biased if they knew they were receiving the new treatment. If the control group were not given a placebo, then the author's recommendation relies on weak evidence, because we are not certain that the increased recovery is attributable to cetadone.

The recommendation seems overly confident that cetadone therapy is the absolute panacea for all tarocaine addicts of New Portsmouth. Will Cetadone work for all tarocaine addicts in all of New Portsmouth? The study results blatantly tell us that cetadone did not work for 100% of participants. Less than half, 40%, of the participants who received Cetadone recovered from this addiction.  It is unwarranted to claim that this therapy will work for all tarocaine addicts of New Portsmouth.

Details about the sampling method and how the study was conducted will need to be outlined to assess the validity of the author's recommendation.


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comments:
did not leave enough time to finish with flourish.
- missed some details in reading the prompt that would have given more solid support points
(study was conducted on western part of New Portsmouth -- recommendation applies to all of New Portsmouth -- is this fine to extrapolate?)
did not finish reading the instructions ...