Episode 40
We have all heard the adage, “Extraordinary Claims require Extraordinary Evidence.” Have you asked yourself, “what does that even mean?” Chances are, when you’ve heard it, or even used it, it has been in relation to a topic that you already feel confident is all but impossible to prove anyway. But where did it come from, and why has it become the go-to gotcha phrase for calling someone’s bluff , especially in regarding to conspiracy theory and the paranormal or supernatural? Come to think of it, how do we know when it applies? What exactly makes a claim “extraordinary”?
To do this, I think we need to first understand the phrase itself. Where it comes from, and what it is actually saying. After that, we can explore other aspects of popular thinking which make this resonate so well with the general public.
Now, I’ve been wanting to talk about this for a long time. Exploring cases and beliefs often leads to the inevitable discussion board with the oft repeated phrases “prove it” and “that’s proven false”. I realized that I couldn’t simply pick a single example or event and boil it down to that. We needed to discuss the axiom itself. That “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence” is often taken as a conclusion to the discussion itself. As though it states a given truth about a claim, establishing it’s impossibility. At least impossibility in so far as the claimants ability to prove anything.
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Links:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-scientific-fundamentalist/201103/do-extraordinary-claims-require-extraordinary-evidence
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre-Simon_Laplace
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hot-thought/201303/what-is-evidence?amp
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/notesfromanapostate/2015/04/do-extraordinary-claims-require-extraordinary-evidence/
https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/scientists-are-searching-mirror-universe-it-could-be-sitting-right-ncna1023206
https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2019/07/16/you-must-not-trust-experiments-that-claim-the-existence-of-parallel-universes/#2b86060f2fbe
https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2017/11/22/scientific-proof-is-a-myth/#59b71ce92fb1
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3114207/
War Escalation - Discussion of Ukraine Conflict w/Scott Compton
False Flag Fake Out w/ Scott Compton
COVID Testing and Overdiagnosis
Mandate Games
Awakenings and Activation with NK Kranda
Bones of Tyranny - Breakdown, Civil War, and the Stand Alone Complex
Bones of Tyranny - Operational Contingency and Continuity of Government
Flu Shots and Face Masks - Moral Panic and Social Control Theory
Masking the Truth - Face Masks, Empathy and Dis-inhibition
Crisis Apparitions and Connectedness
The Dogs of Lore - Dogmen, Black Dogs, Werewolves and Dog Domestication Theory
Pandemic Panic (Part 4) - Realities of the Spanish Flu
Quarantine Quiet Time with NK and Ryan
Pandemic Panic (Part 3) - The Spanish Flu of 1918
Pandemic Panic (Part 2) - COVID19, Communication and Pandemic Uncertainty
Pandemic Panic (Part 1) - Wuhan Coronavirus Outbreak
Synchronicity
Haunted Houses and Prospect-Refuge Theory
Seeking Witchcraft (w/ guest Ashley of Seeking Witchcraft Podcast)
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