= 27d567bc2d48d9f40e9ccc20ea370b15)
MugaSofer comments on Absence of Evidence Is Evidence of Absence - Less Wrong
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
= 783df68a0f980790206b9ea87794c5b6)
Loading…= b715d02e85f7b3b4ae65ca3d3e450868)
Subscribe to RSS Feed
Powered by Reddit
= f037147d6e6c911a85753b9abdedda8d)
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
Comments (108)
It's not about arguments being soldiers, but basic Gricean maxims. In everyday talk you don't call something "evidence" unless it actually matters that it is evidence, and it only matters if it is strong enough to be worth attending to.
Just because there is this other, mathematically defined concept called "evidence", according to which every purple M&M is evidence for the blackness and whiteness of crows, you don't get to say that everyone else is wrong for not using the word the way you redefined it. Instead, you must recognise that this is a different concept, called by the same name, and take care to distinguish the two meanings.
What next, insisting that black paint isn't black?
Sorry, I wasn't clear. I agree that it's reasonable, except when discussing prob. math, to assume "evidence" means "evidence worth mentioning". I noted that, while not "reasonable" exactly, it's even natural that it tends to be interpreted as "this is my side, I offer evidence in tribute", from an evopsych perspective :/