RE: Anecdotal Evidence
November 3, 2016 at 12:07 pm
(This post was last modified: November 3, 2016 at 12:15 pm by The Grand Nudger.)
A simple google search would bare out the fact that, even in the loosest sense of the word "useful" (that I think people expressing such an opinion are using) anecdote is only admissible as evidence (note that this is legalese, things admitted -as- evidence are not always evidence..that's just the category of discovery) when it aligns with an empirical fact, and that even then, a valid objection might still be raised against it....having the testimony stricken.
No web of anecdote- however large and impressive, even after inductive reasoning, is or should be able to secure a conviction. That would be a travesty of justice. A conviction by the mob assigning guilt by crooked pointed fingers, and we've been down that road before..which is -why- purely anecdotal evidence is not, generally, admissible.
"She's a witch, she cursed my cattle, and my penis used to be at least -twice- as large as it is now!"
-I know, I know, -we- would have issues with the credibility of such a claim, or the plausibility of witchcraft..but if you didn't (and there was a time....) would it then -become- evidence...if, say, a whole town said they saw it? No, ofc not. I love this example, because, in a sick sort of way, I admire modern day prosecutors in, say, arab states...that secure convictions of witchcraft. To my mind, you've gotta be pretty damned good at what you do, at presenting "evidence" which isn;t evidence, and convincing people that useless anecdote has value, transferring the assumed credibility of a witness to their -testimony-...as though that weren't ludicrous on it's very face.
No web of anecdote- however large and impressive, even after inductive reasoning, is or should be able to secure a conviction. That would be a travesty of justice. A conviction by the mob assigning guilt by crooked pointed fingers, and we've been down that road before..which is -why- purely anecdotal evidence is not, generally, admissible.
"She's a witch, she cursed my cattle, and my penis used to be at least -twice- as large as it is now!"
-I know, I know, -we- would have issues with the credibility of such a claim, or the plausibility of witchcraft..but if you didn't (and there was a time....) would it then -become- evidence...if, say, a whole town said they saw it? No, ofc not. I love this example, because, in a sick sort of way, I admire modern day prosecutors in, say, arab states...that secure convictions of witchcraft. To my mind, you've gotta be pretty damned good at what you do, at presenting "evidence" which isn;t evidence, and convincing people that useless anecdote has value, transferring the assumed credibility of a witness to their -testimony-...as though that weren't ludicrous on it's very face.
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