The Phrase "No Evidence" Is A Red Flag For Bad Science Communication
The Phrase "No Evidence" Is A Red Flag For Bad Science Communication
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Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence!
That depends on if you would expect evidence or not. If I go to the beach and there's no evidence of whales, that doesn't mean there's no whales in the ocean. But, If there's no evidence of an elephant in my living room then that's pretty good evidence there's no elephant in my living room.
Is it though? When is the last time you thoroughly checked your living room for elephants
The house hippos tend to keep the elephants at bay
You know damn well we didn't find no WMDS!
That whole show is great, but that's like the best 2-3 minutes of the show
But it is far more likely to be evidence of absence than evidence of presence.
It is also very likely to be evidence of: no one has gathered enough data yet
It's also likely to be evidence that something can't be patented, so nobody will pay for trials.