Donna. I finally figured out why my friend Jumpin’ Java Joe can't sleep at night. Abner. Who’s Jumpin’ Joe? Donna. He’s a fellow I see at the computer center. I don’t know much about him, but he’s nervous and irritable all day, and he says he can never get to sleep at night. Anyway, it must be that his spine is out of whack. Abner. His spine? Have you checked his spine to see if it’s working okay? Donna. No, I don’t need to. It has to be out of whack because that’s the only possible explanation. Abner. Listen, I don't know much about this Jumpin’ Joe, but I'd be willing to bet that he drinks coffee, or Mountain Dew or something else with caffeine in it. I mean, if he were taking a lot of caffeine, his nervousness, irritability and sleeplessness would make a lot of sense.

Abner's argument is based on three facts. Donna's irritability, his difficulty staying awake, and his sleeplessness. Excess coffee consumption is known to cause all three things, and it is a fairly common condition in today's society, whereas other conditions that might cause the same symptoms are much less common. So Abner's argument is a very reasonable first guess at the cause of Donna's problem.

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