These are some basic principles I use to help sort through the various topics and suggested explanations. Using them can simplify discussions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
This principle is attributed to William of Occam. He said something like, \u201cdo not multiply entities unnecessarily.\u201d I prefer, \u201cKeep it simple.\u201d Choose the simplest explanation that covers all the facts. Don\u2019t add complications unless the facts require it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen you hear hoofbeats, think of horses before zebras.\u201d This is similar to Occam\u2019s Razor. Consider the more familiar explanations first. Those hoofbeats might be zebras, but they\u2019re probably horses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lack of evidence is exactly that \u2013 insufficient evidence to make an informed decision or to support a claim. When evidence is lacking, there is no basis for any conclusions. It isn\u2019t proof of a conspiracy to suppress the information by Big Oil, Big Pharma, Big Science, Big Government, Big Brother \u2013 whoever. It just means we don\u2019t know enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Related to this is the fact that an absence of evidence does not prove that something does not exist. That is certainly a reasonable conclusion, but it is not proof.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some argue that if you can\u2019t prove a point, it must be false. Not so. At most, being unable to prove a point suggests that your belief is based more on faith than on solid reasoning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The flip side of this is the idea that if you can’t disprove a point, it must therefore be true. Again, this isn’t the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The more unusual a claim, the more compelling the evidence must be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you tell me you have a dog, I\u2019ll believe you. Lots of people have dogs. If you tell me you\u2019ve got a dragon, I\u2019ll need some serious evidence before I\u2019ll believe you. Dogs are ordinary; little evidence is needed. Dragons are extraordinary. The evidence needs to be compelling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whoever makes the claim needs to support it with evidence. It is fallacious to make a claim and then demand that others disprove it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You see this a lot in science, when some would-be genius thinks he\u2019s found a new theory, and demands that scientists disprove it. When scientists don\u2019t respond, he claims they\u2019re afraid of the truth, or covering up, or some such bullshit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you make a claim, it\u2019s up to you to provide evidence to support it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is a Latin phrase that means “to the man.” It refers to a fallacy where a respondent tries to refute a claim by commenting on the person making the claim, instead of the claim itself. Quite often this involves insults, but that isn’t always the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This fallacy often arises with controversial events that people witness. Their evidence is sometimes dismissed because they’re not trained scientists. The evidence itself isn’t examined, which is where the fallacy arises.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
These are some basic principles I use to help sort through the various topics and suggested explanations. Using them can simplify discussions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/random-musings.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/random-musings.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/random-musings.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/random-musings.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/random-musings.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/random-musings.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1291,"href":"https:\/\/random-musings.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183\/revisions\/1291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/random-musings.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/random-musings.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/random-musings.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}