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Why should personal anecdotal evidence be worthless per se? A unifying scientific theory usually explains stuff by using a hierarchy of abstract models, detache
by bluetomcat 4y ago
Why should personal anecdotal evidence be worthless per se? A unifying scientific theory usually explains stuff by using a hierarchy of abstract models, detached from a concrete local environment.
The subjective experience defines a plethora of factors which are hard to fit into a general theory. If you live in a high-crime neighbourhood, you'd better trust your anecdotal evidence instead of relying on nation-wide sociological evidence.
- brookst 4y agoMe: a personal anecdote does not have the weight of a body of peer reviewed articles. You: why are personal anecdotes worthless? Binary thinking is too transparent. You seem to be using binary thinking to suggest that if anecdotes have any value, they must be treated as having equal value with any other source of data, including rigorously designed and executed studies.