RE: Atheism 101: The Null Hypothesis
July 5, 2013 at 7:39 pm
(This post was last modified: July 5, 2013 at 7:52 pm by pineapplebunnybounce.)
absence of evidence =/= evidence of absence.
Sometimes we just haven't looked hard enough.
But of course, this only applies to things that we have a reason to think may exist. For example, in evolutionary biology, scientists would predict where fossils would turn up, and they'll go look for it. If they haven't found it after 3 tries, doesn't mean it isn't there, it could still be there. Which is why science doesn't concern itself with proving nonexistence.
As for god, the god hypothesis hasn't been raised for many years, we have no reason to think that such a thing even exists. Just like no one will fund a research project that seeks to find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, because why would you even think it exists?
Edit: oops, forgot to add that this doesn't apply to pseudo, new age, traditional, alternate medicine. When an alternate medical treatment is tested and does not exhibit any effects beyond the placebo, it doesn't have that effect. That is evidence of absence and absence of evidence. The drug for all intents and purposes doesn't work. Cannot believe how often they use this absence of evidence =/= evidence of absence to say alternate medicine is just as good as mainstream.
Sometimes we just haven't looked hard enough.
But of course, this only applies to things that we have a reason to think may exist. For example, in evolutionary biology, scientists would predict where fossils would turn up, and they'll go look for it. If they haven't found it after 3 tries, doesn't mean it isn't there, it could still be there. Which is why science doesn't concern itself with proving nonexistence.
As for god, the god hypothesis hasn't been raised for many years, we have no reason to think that such a thing even exists. Just like no one will fund a research project that seeks to find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, because why would you even think it exists?
Edit: oops, forgot to add that this doesn't apply to pseudo, new age, traditional, alternate medicine. When an alternate medical treatment is tested and does not exhibit any effects beyond the placebo, it doesn't have that effect. That is evidence of absence and absence of evidence. The drug for all intents and purposes doesn't work. Cannot believe how often they use this absence of evidence =/= evidence of absence to say alternate medicine is just as good as mainstream.
