I think this post was important. I used the phrase ‘Law of No Evidence: Any claim that there is “no evidence” of something is evidence of bullshit’ several times (mostly in reply to tweets using that phrase or when talking about an article that uses the phrase).
Was it important intellectual progress? I think so. Not as a cognitive tool for use in an ideal situation, where you and others are collaboratively truth-seeking—but for use in adversarial situations, where people, institutions and authorities lie, mislead and gaslight you.
It is not a tool meant to be used with your friends, it’s not something we should want to see used on LessWrong. It is a a weapon to wield against the dark arts. And In that case, it is a sharp razor that shreds claims of no evidence made in bad faith or ignorance.
I did hope it would become more memetic. On the other hand, I haven’t seen as much claims of no evidence lately, so perhaps this post was part of successful push against that strategy. Anyway, here’s a meme version I just made. Feel free to use it:
I think this post was important. I used the phrase ‘Law of No Evidence: Any claim that there is “no evidence” of something is evidence of bullshit’ several times (mostly in reply to tweets using that phrase or when talking about an article that uses the phrase).
Was it important intellectual progress? I think so. Not as a cognitive tool for use in an ideal situation, where you and others are collaboratively truth-seeking—but for use in adversarial situations, where people, institutions and authorities lie, mislead and gaslight you.
It is not a tool meant to be used with your friends, it’s not something we should want to see used on LessWrong. It is a a weapon to wield against the dark arts. And In that case, it is a sharp razor that shreds claims of no evidence made in bad faith or ignorance.
I did hope it would become more memetic. On the other hand, I haven’t seen as much claims of no evidence lately, so perhaps this post was part of successful push against that strategy. Anyway, here’s a meme version I just made. Feel free to use it: