Short answer essay. There are a total of four questions. Each question need 200 words. But the answer have to be derived from the 4 articles that I have posted. So each question will be one article
For an example
: For each assigned reading you select, write a single paragraph of no more than 200 words that is responsive to (i) and (ii). An example paragraph that attempts to be responsive in this way is given below for Alt-Wellwood’s claim that the Earth is flat. That paragraph is an extreme example designed to illustrate the genre of response that we’re looking for. You need not strongly doubt the author’s claim in order to feel out possible objections or counter-examples, and you must be generous in characterizing the author’s claim that you criticize.
Specify, in your own words, one claim that the author makes. How do they defend it? Provide an example that the author’s claim is intended to cover and how.
Specify an objection or counter-example to the author’s claim. How might the author wish to respond? How problematic is it for the author’s claim?
Example paragraph (196 words): Alt-Wellwood claims that the Earth is flat. She says that, unless this were true, one could not explain why the Earth appears so. The author defends her claim by pointing out that none of her friends have been convinced by any of the purported evidence to the contrary, including photographs or videofeed of the Earth taken from space in which it appears round. However, it isn’t particularly difficult to explain why the Earth looks flat from its surface, by simple appeal to properties of the human visual system and the sheer size of the Earth. Other types of evidence go unaddressed. For just one example, the private company Starlink launches satellites that provide internet access to a global base of around 250,000 customers. If the Earth were not round, this industry would not be possible. The author could respond by saying that Starlink’s executives, employees, and customers are all in on a vast conspiracy designed to deceive humanity. However, this is implausible, given the number of people that would have to be in on it, and how widely entrenched, firmly established, and successful orbital science is. Correspondingly, there is little reason to believe Alt-Wellwood’s claim.