4 ms·

"There is no historical record of..." is an interesting assertion. On the one hand, it's easy to make and sort of requires no citation because there wouldn't be

"There is no historical record of..." is an interesting assertion. On the one hand, it's easy to make and sort of requires no citation because there wouldn't be one. "There is no historical record of Caesar's fondness for juggling." But on the other hand, it's a dangerous claim because it's extremely falsifiable, like in your example. But I suppose it's easy to say "whoops, I read all of the historical records but forgot about Histories book 2, good find!"

Mathnerd314 4y ago
A stronger claim is to limit yourself to some sources: "There is no record of X in A's history of B or C's history of D." If you read the sources it is unlikely to be falsified, and the reader who wants to debate you at least knows where not to look.
eru 4y ago
> But on the other hand, it's a dangerous claim because it's extremely falsifiable, like in your example. Making claims that are easy to falsify is good!
dr_dshiv 4y ago
“There is no historical record of the deliberate use of psilocybin mushrooms in Europe before 1957” I had to make this claim recently. There is also a shocking lack of evidence for the use of cannabis in the Greco-Roman period (apart from Herodotus discussing the Scythians—and a reference in Exodus).
- CobrastanJorji 4y ago
  I am curious. How does one investigate such a claim? I imagine general expertise in the subject is a big start, and perhaps some sort of electronic search for certain keywords in some sort of historical records database (I assume there are such things?), but beyond that, it seems challenging. And then how does one demonstrate that such a search was conducted?
  - dr_dshiv 4y ago
    Here’s an example wrt cannabis: https://saltonverde.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/17-Handbook_cannabis_therapeutics_from_bench_to_bedside.pdf#page=42 https://saltonverde.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/17-Handbo...

Mathnerd314 4y ago

A stronger claim is to limit yourself to some sources: "There is no record of X in A's history of B or C's history of D." If you read the sources it is unlikely to be falsified, and the reader who wants to debate you at least knows where not to look.

eru 4y ago

> But on the other hand, it's a dangerous claim because it's extremely falsifiable, like in your example. Making claims that are easy to falsify is good!

dr_dshiv 4y ago

“There is no historical record of the deliberate use of psilocybin mushrooms in Europe before 1957” I had to make this claim recently. There is also a shocking lack of evidence for the use of cannabis in the Greco-Roman period (apart from Herodotus discussing the Scythians—and a reference in Exodus).

CobrastanJorji 4y ago
I am curious. How does one investigate such a claim? I imagine general expertise in the subject is a big start, and perhaps some sort of electronic search for certain keywords in some sort of historical records database (I assume there are such things?), but beyond that, it seems challenging. And then how does one demonstrate that such a search was conducted?
- dr_dshiv 4y ago
  Here’s an example wrt cannabis: https://saltonverde.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/17-Handbook_cannabis_therapeutics_from_bench_to_bedside.pdf#page=42 https://saltonverde.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/17-Handbo...