Limits

"What is the scope and certainty of this argument?"

In a nutshell

  • In complex, contested, real-world issues, it can be hard to know what's true.
  • So, in good-faith arguments, we usually qualify or limit our claims.
  • We commonly limit scope and certainty:
    • "Retail businesses will probably see more foot traffic after we implement a car ban."

We all fall somewhere on the continuum of these traits, but people with more-extreme symptoms appear to have different chemistry in the parts of their brains that govern reward, movement, and attention. They may have trouble listening or sitting still, and they get distracted by external stimuli. They can be hyper- focused, but they also get bored easily, so they tend to be risk takers, looking for charged activities that help flood their brains with feel-good neurotransmitters like dopamine and norepinephrine, which otherwise get gummed up in the ADHD brain. Kids with the condition are more likely to suffer head injuries, accidentally ingest poisons, and take street drugs.

Going deeper

  • We tend to qualify:
    • Processes through modal verbs ("It could happen")
    • Things through adjective groups ("It will affect those particular streets")
    • Circumstances through prepositional phrases ("Under normal circumstances, this plan will work fine.")
  • Toulmin uses the terms "qualify" and "qualifications".
    • "Limit" is probably more accessible to novice students, and "qualify" is more suitable for more experienced students.

Numbers are rife in most workplaces: on tools and gauges, as measurements, as indicators of pressure or concentration or temperature, as guides to sequence, on ingredient labels, on lists and spreadsheets, as markers of quantity and price. Certain jobs require workers to make, check, and verify calculations, and to collect and interpret data. Basic math can be involved, and some workers develop a good sense of numbers and patterns.

In Frankenstories

  • Limits aren't an explicit part of the canonical argument format.
  • However, you can encourage students to use qualifying language in the game.
  • For example, tell them to write as if they are not entirely certain about their argument. (How uncertain? About which parts?)