Reference no: EM133281044
Assignment:
Please watch this video, and answer the question (below):
Is Your Child Getting Enough Vitamin N?
Someone could object to the film in the following way:
"I hear what is being said here, and we certainly need to fight our tendencies to being whiny, self-centered, and entitled.
But the video is committing the 'Hasty Generalization' fallacy by pointing to virtually all of society's ills and tying this directly to today's children alleged deficiency in 'Vitamin N.'
Society is always changing (and in ways we cannot easily understand) and there are often more than one plausible explanation for why we are the way we are. (Just take an 'Introduction to Sociology' class, and you will see all the competing theories of society, and how each of them has some plausibility but also significant weaknesses.)
In fact, there is very good reason to believe that the lack of 'Vitamin N' visible today has significant beneficial effects on society. Think of all the millions of young people in the 1920s, for instance, who never developed themselves to the fullest, and had their personal creativities, drives, and passions squelched, because they were told discouraging 'everyday truths,' such as: 'The sky IS the limit!,' 'You are burning your candle at both ends!,' 'Dreaming is for sleep -- get back to work!,' etc.
We need the current generation of young people to feel self-confident in their own ideas to demand the 'impossible' from those of us who are too small-minded or frightened or lazy to see the world any differently than the way it is.
Children need to be told 'YES, it IS possible!,' 'You ARE entitled to demand a better world than what you have been handed by previous generations!,' and 'It is possible that you -- that's right, YOU! -- may be the ONLY ONE in the world who can cure cancer, walk on Mars, end poverty, be an ethical role-model in your sphere of influence, etc.'
Indeed, it takes a lot of chutzpah to believe you can positively impact the world -- but this necessary self-esteem will not develop if it is poisoned with too much 'Vitamin N.'"
What do you think of this criticism? Is it compelling or weak? Please explain.