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Showing posts with the label anecdotal evidence

Basing Your Beliefs On Anecdotal Evidence Is Foolish - People Cave To Their Desires

People believe what they want to believe.  Even when it comes to Global Warming they point to anecdotal evidence.  "We never had winters like this when I was a kid."  Our lives are a blip in the history of climate, and when factored to the greater number of years, meaningless.  Reverting to the anecdotal in such an argument points to the personal desire to believe in a point, regardless of factual evidence. A lot of the time, people will believe things without good reason.  The fairness of their point of view is indicated by how they respond to even-handed, fair criticism of their position.  The evidence of an opposing view also tests their propensity to the truth.  When a person's view is refuted and weakened by evidence, do they still stand behind their point of view?  Will they adjust their point of view based on the evidence that comes in? People seize upon the most miniscule evidence to justify something they want justified, not because they've examined the i