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I suppose my hangup here is what I perceive to be the difference between evidence and proof. It is entirely possible to find evidence of things that turn out t
by Crito 13y ago
I suppose my hangup here is what I perceive to be the difference between evidence and proof.
It is entirely possible to find evidence of things that turn out to be false. For example, you could take the seemingly chaotic retrograde motion of the planets in the night sky as evidence of the existence of gods with self-determination. We know know that isn't true, we have better explanations for that phenomenon (notably the notion of heliocentricity).
The planets moving differently from the stars was never proof that there were gods up there, but evidence? Sure, it was evidence. Evidence can be of various qualities, evidence of thins has to be judged critically, and weighed against the alternatives.
- dragonwriter 13y agoEvidence for or against bias on a particular axis is something that tends to indicate the presence or absence of differential treatment basis on that axis. Facts which do not provide a basis for comparisons of how different values on that axis are treated are not much evidence for or against bias, this include facts about outcome (e.g., all the people I hired are black, etc.) without additional information from which the expected outcome in the absence of bias can be inferred.
- Crito 13y agoI don't think such statements are totally worthless, but I do see where you are coming from now. Thank you.