Read the Scott Alexander link, it’s really good. He suggests ‘no evidence either way’ for [claim] if there is in fact no (official scientific peer-reviewed) evidence, and “scientists say snake oil doesn’t work” [insert relevant claim as appropriate] for cases where people have checked and have reasonably disproved the claim. Note his advice is mostly directed at journalists, but seems sensible for the rest of us too.
I skimmed it but I guess I missed those suggestions.
If the story is that nobody has ever investigated snake oil, and you have no strong opinion on it, and for some reason that’s newsworthy, use the words “either way”: “No Evidence Either Way About Whether Snake Oil Works”.
“No evidence either way” I’m surprised to hear suggested from him, especially in the context of that article. That suggests “it doesn’t exist” vs “we haven’t looked for it”. There’s a big difference there. For example, imagine your partner asks if there’s any milk left, and you haven’t opened the fridge yet to check. You wouldn’t say that there’s no milk, you’d just say that you don’t know yet because you haven’t checked.
If the story is that all the world’s top doctors and scientists believe snake oil doesn’t work, then say so. “Scientists: Snake Oil Doesn’t Work”. This doesn’t have the same faux objectivity as “No Evidence Snake Oil Works”. It centers the belief in fallible scientists, as opposed to the much more convincing claim that there is literally not a single piece of evidence anywhere in the world that anyone could use in favor of snake oil. Maybe it would sound less authoritative. Breaking an addiction to false certainty is as hard as breaking any other addiction. But the first step is admitting you have a problem.
I like the thinking here. However, a natural question is “How strongly do these scientists feel?” I think that it is important to start including things like weak, moderate and strong in communication.
I wonder what a better phrase would be. “No conclusive evidence” is the first thing that comes to mind, but that word “conclusive” is too strong.
Edit: Maybe “No strong evidence”?
Read the Scott Alexander link, it’s really good. He suggests ‘no evidence either way’ for [claim] if there is in fact no (official scientific peer-reviewed) evidence, and “scientists say snake oil doesn’t work” [insert relevant claim as appropriate] for cases where people have checked and have reasonably disproved the claim. Note his advice is mostly directed at journalists, but seems sensible for the rest of us too.
I skimmed it but I guess I missed those suggestions.
“No evidence either way” I’m surprised to hear suggested from him, especially in the context of that article. That suggests “it doesn’t exist” vs “we haven’t looked for it”. There’s a big difference there. For example, imagine your partner asks if there’s any milk left, and you haven’t opened the fridge yet to check. You wouldn’t say that there’s no milk, you’d just say that you don’t know yet because you haven’t checked.
I like the thinking here. However, a natural question is “How strongly do these scientists feel?” I think that it is important to start including things like weak, moderate and strong in communication.