There is now evidence that the relaxed pace of life in small towns promotes better health and greater longevity than does the hectic pace of life in big cities. Businesses in the small town of Leeville report fewer days of sick leave taken by individual workers than do businesses in the nearby large city of Masonton. Furthermore, Leeville has only one physician for its one thousand residents, but in Masonton the proportion of physicians to residents is five times as high. Finally, the average age of Leeville residents is significantly higher than that of Masonton residents. These findings suggest that people seeking longer and healthier lives should consider moving to small communities.
Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if the assumptions prove unwarranted.
In small towns, the pace of life is much more relaxed than in the big city. People are healthier and live longer as a result’.
This argument rests upon the claim that small towns are more conducive to healthy living and longer lives than are big cities. It rests upon three assumptions, one of which is the most questionable. The first is that the pace of life in small towns is more relaxed than in the big city. This claim is based on surveys of businesses regarding the number of days of sick leave taken by their employees. While such surveys may be interesting, they do not provide any solid evidence regarding whether the pace of life overall is more relaxed in small towns. It could also be that Leeville businesses are simply reporting more sick days taken by their employees as the population increases, making it more difficult for local businesses to fill their vacancies. The second assumption is that Leeville and Masonton differ in the proportion of physicians to residents. While it is true that Masonton has five physicians for every thousand residents, this statistic is also based on a population of one thousand. Leeville, with a population of less than one thousand, has only one physician. That being the case, it is questionable whether Masonton’s rate of physicians to residents is any higher than that in Leeville. The third assumption is that the average age of Leeville residents is lower than that of Masonton residents. Again, this is based on a population of one thousand. But the population of Leeville is decreasing, so if the ages were reversed, the average age of Leeville residents would be higher than that in Masonton. What evidence is there that the pace of life in rural areas promotes better health and longevity? That evidence comes from a study of 5,000 people in five rural communities (two in Texas and three in Arkansas), published in ‘The Journal of American Medical Association’ in 1999. The study, which tracked the health of individuals over time, found that ‘people who lived in rural areas had lower mortality rates than those in metro areas.’The surveys of Leeville and Masonton businesses regarding employee absenteeism and physician numbers do not demonstrate whether the pace of life in small towns is truly more laid back than that of big cities. Furthermore, they fail to account for the increase in population in Leeville, and the possibility that businesses may be reporting fewer sick days taken by their employees simply because there are fewer people to fill those vacancies. Even if businesses are indeed reporting fewer days of sick leave taken by employees, that does not necessarily imply that the pace of life in small towns is more relaxed than that of big cities.