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Difficulty: MediumArgument by Analogy

Policy Analyst: The extraction of minerals from the deep seabed in international waters is effectively governed by a centralized international tribunal that mandates strict environmental protection protocols and redistributes a portion of all profits to developing nations. If we want to ensure the environmentally safe and globally equitable development of asteroid mining, we must establish a comparable international tribunal to issue licenses, enforce environmental standards, and distribute a share of the profits.

Which of the following statements, if true, identify relevant points of disanalogy between asteroid mining and deep-sea mining that logically weaken the analyst's argument? Select all that apply.

  1. Unlike the deep seabed, where extraction directly threatens fragile marine ecosystems, asteroids are entirely sterile bodies devoid of biological life, rendering strict environmental protection protocols unnecessary.Answer
  2. The initial capital required for asteroid mining is exponentially higher than the costs of deep-sea mining, meaning that mandatory profit redistribution would completely deter the private investment necessary to develop space extraction.Answer
  3. C
    Deep-sea mining primarily targets loose metallic nodules on the ocean floor, whereas asteroid mining requires excavating solid rock in a zero-gravity environment.
  4. D
    Asteroids, much like the deep seabed, contain vast quantities of valuable resources that no single nation can legitimately claim as its exclusive sovereign territory.
  5. E
    The international tribunal currently governing the deep seabed has frequently failed to effectively enforce its own environmental protection protocols.

Answer

The correct options are the ones stating that asteroids are sterile bodies rendering environmental protocols unnecessary, and that the exponentially higher capital required for asteroid mining makes profit redistribution unviable.
Arguments by analogy fail when there are relevant differences between the two things being compared. The author assumes that because environmental protocols and profit redistribution work for the deep seabed, they will work for asteroids. The correct answers expose critical differences: the biological sterility of asteroids removes the need for environmental protection, and the distinct economic realities of space travel make profit redistribution unworkable.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the argument's structure and the specific analogy being made.
The argument compares deep-sea mining (analog) to asteroid mining (target). It concludes that because a tribunal successfully uses environmental protocols and profit redistribution for the seabed, the same mechanisms should be applied to asteroids.
Understanding the precise points of comparison is necessary to evaluate the analogy.
2
Identify the criteria for a correct answer.
The correct answers must point out a difference (disanalogy) between the deep seabed and asteroids that makes applying the specific solutions (environmental protocols or profit redistribution) inappropriate or ineffective for asteroids.
The prompt explicitly asks for relevant points of disanalogy that weaken the argument.
3
Evaluate the options against the criteria.
The option regarding sterile asteroid environments dismantles the need for environmental protocols. The option regarding the exponentially higher capital costs dismantles the viability of profit redistribution.
Both of these options strike directly at the core mechanisms the author is trying to transfer from the analog to the target.

Key Concept

Evaluating Arguments by Analogy
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Topics

Argument by Analogy

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