Consequences
From UVA Writing Center
Problem Statements • Status Quo • Destabilizing Condition • Consequences • Response or Claim
The Consequences are basically what's at stake in a Destabilizing Condition. If a problem means that something is lost, it has costs. If a problem is framed to focus on positive aspects of the solution/claim, it has benefits.
To help determine the consequences, look at the Destabilizing Condition and ask "so what?"
Contents |
Costs
How a problem statement can be framed with costs:
Example 1
- Status Quo: Since YouTube came online and made it possible for regular people to create and share video content on the World Wide Web, the face of the Internet has rapidly changed.
- Destabilizing Condition: But this technology has also made it possible for copyrighted content to be illegally aired, which has made YouTube beloved by users, but despised by large media companies.
- The costs here could be phrased:
If YouTube continues to grow unchecked, proprietary video content providers like the major television networks and
the Motion Picture Association of America will face profit losses due to piracy.
Example 2
- Status Quo: Advances in genome technology has allowed science to map the human DNA, and they are now mapping one of our closest ancestors, the Neanderthal.
- Destabilizing Condition: However, proving Neanderthals share DNA with modern humans presents some significant problems for both evolutionary scientists who argue for modern humans' exclusivity, and creationists who deny evolution.
- The costs here could be phrased:
If the research proves that modern humans share DNA with Neanderthals, both evolutionary scientists and creationists
will be forced to deal with evidence that forcefully contradicts their stated positions.
Benefits
How a problem statement can be framed with benefits:
Example 1
- Status Quo: Since YouTube came online and made it possible for regular people to create and share video content on the World Wide Web, the face of the Internet has rapidly changed.
- Destabilizing Condition: But this technology has also made it possible for copyrighted content to be illegally aired, which has made YouTube beloved by users, but despised by large media companies.
- The benefits here could be phrased:
But some networks, like NBC, have discovered that they can drive viewers back to the television by releasing
content via YouTube, so both YouTube and NBC get a greater audience share.
Example 2
- Status Quo: Advances in genome technology has allowed science to map the human DNA, and they are now mapping one of our closest ancestors, the Neanderthal.
- Destabilizing Condition: However, proving Neanderthals share DNA with modern humans presents some significant problems for both evolutionary scientists who argue for modern humans' exclusivity, and creationists who deny evolution.
- The benefits here could be phrased:
However, proving an evolutionary link could help evolutionary scientists fill out our own genetic history, and
wouldn't necessarily chafe creationists if they argued that Neanderthals were part of creation.
Pragmatic Problems
If the costs or benefits of a problem have real-world, material effects, it is known as a pragmatic or tangible problem. The YouTube example can be considered a pragmatic problem because both the cost of content piracy and the benefit of a larger audience share deal with material circumstances (in this case, the bottom line for both content providers and YouTube).
Conceptual Problems
If the costs or benefits of a problem make the audience change their thinking about something, but do not necessarily have immediate material effects, those are conceptual problems. In other words, they change the way one conceives or thinks about something. In the Neanderthal example, what's at stake is the way two distinct groups think about a certain issue, making it a conceptual problem. If the problem addressed something specific out of the Neanderthal DNA question (like a particular gene found in both Neanderthals and modern humans), then we'd be talking about a pragmatic problem.
