Claim- the viewpoint that you are trying to get across during an argument.
Support- the reasons why someone should accept your viewpoint in an argument.
Evidence- any facts that are used to convince someone in an argument.
Explanation- description of how evidence supports your claim in an argument.
1. My immediate response was agreement. I completely agree that environmentalism does more harm than good this day and age because of the way people will believe anything nowadays without proof. What stuck out to me was how environmentalism and Christianity share some of the same general ideas.
2. Crichton’s tone sounds a little condescending but reflective as well. He feels environmentalism is broken and needs desperately to be fixed. I’d say he’s trying to make the reader feel the same way as he does so people will be more aware of how easily people are being scared of things not based in fact.
3. Crichton’s main claim is that environmentalism is broken and should not be followed as is. His supporting claims are how because of fear people can use the cover of environmentalism to spread lies. He also says that nothing should be believed that’s based in faith and not in science.
4. Crichton supports his claim mainly by scenarios and comparison. He gives a few scenarios to describe how people don’t understand nature as well as they think. He also compares environmentalism to Judeo-Christian religion to support his idea that science should not be followed blindly like religion. The evidence isn’t really backed with scientific data as much as they are just observations so I don’t think they hold up that well.
5.Crichton doesn’t give his sources because he says that they are religious and that this comes from faith and is not dependent on fact. I don’t accept this as a valid reason and I think it hurts his argument.
6. I’d say that Crichton’s argument carries a certain emotional impact that is strong but the fact that he doesn’t provide any concrete evidence to support some of his supporting claims hurts him.