Saturday, December 19, 2020

Zero evidence means a lot of evidence

Slate essay:
And of the top 100 players in the world, only one is a woman (Chinese grandmaster Hou Yifan). ...

Let me state unequivocally that there is currently zero evidence for biological differences in chess ability between the genders.

He cites anecdotes that female players have been insulted. No doubt. However, there is no mention of the possibility that male players are insulted even more.

It has become common to say "zero evidence" to mean "I refuse to accept what the evidence implies". The press says "there is no evidence that the election was stolen" to mean "it has not been proved in court that fraud changed sufficient votes to reverse the outcome".

The NY Times has an article on COVID vaccine skeptics, but they are the ones who are following the evidence.

Actually, the 4 vaccine skeptics quoted in the article are entirely reasonable. They just want to see more testing and evidence, and imply that they may get the vaccine when there is a more convincing case. It is foolish to believe that some FDA committee knows what is best for everyone. The pro-science people are the ones who want to see more scientific evidence, not the ones who blindly trust authority.

“As more information comes out, and things appear to work better, then I will weigh the risks of the vaccine against the risk of the coronavirus and make a judgment,” she said.
This article is a good example of the Jewish authoritarian mindset of that paper. Before the election, discussion of the vaccine was squelched. Then some official committee recommends it, and everyone is supposed to line up and get it.

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