The problem with “I looked in my closet and observed that there was no monkey in it” is that it’s based on subjective evidence that nobody else can check.
Let’s say I want to convince you that it’s possible to cure allergies with hypnosis. I can tell you that I did a process with a friend who had an allergy to cats and then the next time he was exposed to a cat he didn’t show symptoms and that I also have a friend who did the process multiple times successfully with other people.
Together, that’s quite strong evidence for me. On the other hand, I don’t expect anybody on LessWrong to be convinced by the preceding paragraph. To make a case that convinces others I would actually seek more objective evidence that doesn’t rely on my own experience and that readers can independently verify.
Often the best evidence is having seen how something works for yourself but unfortunately, that’s not easy evidence to convey to other people.
The problem with “I looked in my closet and observed that there was no monkey in it” is that it’s based on subjective evidence that nobody else can check.
Let’s say I want to convince you that it’s possible to cure allergies with hypnosis. I can tell you that I did a process with a friend who had an allergy to cats and then the next time he was exposed to a cat he didn’t show symptoms and that I also have a friend who did the process multiple times successfully with other people.
Together, that’s quite strong evidence for me. On the other hand, I don’t expect anybody on LessWrong to be convinced by the preceding paragraph. To make a case that convinces others I would actually seek more objective evidence that doesn’t rely on my own experience and that readers can independently verify.
Often the best evidence is having seen how something works for yourself but unfortunately, that’s not easy evidence to convey to other people.