Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="SamTheBam" data-source="post: 3056248" data-attributes="member: 106621">What?&nbsp; If someone makes a claim that substance X cures baldness, or that acupuncture relieves back pain, or whatever, the burden is on them to show that this is true, not on anyone else to show that it is not.&nbsp; Otherwise, any bllucarp claim about anything in the world would have equal validity to it&#039;s negation.&nbsp; Can you prove that I am not an avatar of Vishnu?&nbsp; That Saturn is not made of cheese?&nbsp; That there is no Santa Claus?&nbsp; We have to operate on the assumption that, if there is no evidence for a claim, it is false.&nbsp; My plans for this afternoon involve going to a Kempo class after work, then going home.&nbsp; It&#039;s possible that class will be cancelled due to a snowstorm - very unlikely in Los Angeles in August, but possible - but I have to operate on the assumption that this will not happen.&nbsp; I can&#039;t prove that my house has not been devoured by toxic microbes carried from Mars by a meteorite, which would make it a bad idea to go home after class.&nbsp; Yet, I am going to go anyway, on the much more likely assumption that everything is OK.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="SamTheBam, post: 3056248, member: 106621"] What? If someone makes a claim that substance X cures baldness, or that acupuncture relieves back pain, or whatever, the burden is on them to show that this is true, not on anyone else to show that it is not. Otherwise, any bllucarp claim about anything in the world would have equal validity to it's negation. Can you prove that I am not an avatar of Vishnu? That Saturn is not made of cheese? That there is no Santa Claus? We have to operate on the assumption that, if there is no evidence for a claim, it is false. My plans for this afternoon involve going to a Kempo class after work, then going home. It's possible that class will be cancelled due to a snowstorm - very unlikely in Los Angeles in August, but possible - but I have to operate on the assumption that this will not happen. I can't prove that my house has not been devoured by toxic microbes carried from Mars by a meteorite, which would make it a bad idea to go home after class. Yet, I am going to go anyway, on the much more likely assumption that everything is OK. [/QUOTE]

Name

Verification

Loading…