I don't know if it's "patently absurd" given that it's a well-known C.J. Date take on NULLs in SQL. You may disagree with him on this - I do - but the very fact

I don't know if it's "patently absurd" given that it's a well-known C.J. Date take on NULLs in SQL. You may disagree with him on this - I do - but the very fact that the father of relational algebra has this take should be sufficient evidence that it's not a trivial question to be dismissed without consideration.