PSYCHOLOGY | CRITICAL THINKING | BULLETPROOF
How to Bullet-proof Your Reasoning #2: Understand the Burden of Proof
Who has the responsibility for demonstrating that a claim is true?
INTRODUCTION
The goal of this How To Bullet-proof Your Reasoning series is to equip the reader with a better understanding of how to use critical thinking in daily life. Today we examine what the Burden of Proof is. There are two important factors to consider:
- We must critically evaluate any new information we receive to determine if some additional proof is required before believing it to be true
- If additional proof is required, it is the person making the claim that must provide it (i.e.: has the burden of proof)
UNDERSTANDING WHAT “HAVING THE BURDEN OF PROOF” MEANS
Burden of proof: When two parties are in a discussion and one makes a claim that the other disputes, the one who makes the claim typically has a burden of proof to justify or substantiate that claim.
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
- Carl Sagan (aka “The Sagan Standard”)
Next, you will read a real-life example demonstrating how this error in critical thinking occurs.
REAL-LIFE EXAMPLE:
Jane is having a conversation with her friend Michelle who is currently looking for a new apartment building to live in. Michelle is describing some of the buildings she visited.
Michelle: Oh, and you’ll never believe this! I visited this building yesterday and, guess what… they had the thirteenth floor!
Jane: Oh, are you superstitious?
Michelle: Uh… You don’t think that’s bad luck?
Jane: No, not really.
Michelle: But [a] everyone knows that [b] the number 13 is unlucky in buildings, on Friday, …
Jane: How do you know that? Can you prove it?
Michelle: Like I said... Plenty of people know that. [c] And, besides, you can’t prove that it’s not true.
Explanation:
[a] = Confirmation bias (this is a FALSE proposition)
[b] = Michelle is claiming that “the number 13 is unlucky” (FALSE until proven otherwise)
[c] = Michelle is shifting the burden of proof* to Jane instead of providing evidence for her claim
*Note: This logical fallacy is frequently accompanied by the use of confirmation bias to try and make the argument more convincing. But two false arguments do not make a true one.
*Note2: It is impossible to prove or disprove the existence of an abstract concept like this one. And this is a convenient way for people making extraordinary claims such as “the number 13 is unlucky” to try and convince you to believe them.
BUT IT DOESN’T END THERE - INTRODUCING THE “ARGUMENT FROM IGNORANCE” (aka “APPEAL TO IGNORANCE”)
Argument from ignorance: where “ignorance” means “a lack of contrary evidence”, this type of argument asserts that a proposition is true because it has not yet been proven false or a proposition is false because it has not yet been proven true.
This is a type of false dichotomy (aka false dilemma).
False dilemma: an argument that is based on a premise that erroneously limits what options are available (aka false premise). It asserts that one among a number of alternatives must be true, by excluding viable alternatives.
A viable alternative is that further investigation is possible in order to prove a proposition to be TRUE or FALSE.
But the person that is shifting the burden of proof based on an appeal from ignorance is essentially telling you that all of the facts required to demonstrate the truth of their proposition already exist and no further investigation on the topic is required.
What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence.
- Christopher Hitchens (Hitchen’s Razor)*
*Meaning: A claim made without verifiable evidence can be dismissed as factually untrue until said evidence is produced. Verifiable evidence is not subject to personal opinions, feelings, or beliefs. A simple way to think of it is that it is physically demonstrable to anyone in the world who asks for it as proof.
In other words, if someone makes an unsubstantiated claim to you, and you ask this person for proof but they refuse to provide it or are otherwise unable to, and perhaps even try to shift the burden of proof to you for their own claim, then you can safely assume that the claim is untrue (until proven otherwise) and end the discussion there.
CONCLUSION
It’s important to take the time to critically evaluate the new information that we receive, no matter who it comes from (the source) or what it relates to.
As seen in this real-life example, someone can make a claim that is based on one or more logical fallacies to try and convince you of its validity. Always evaluate each part of a claim/argument to distinguish which propositions are TRUE and which are FALSE.
Our ultimate goal should be to apply the same critical thinking approach to all information we consume before deciding if we should accept or reject it, considering each point independently and carefully.
PREVIOUS ARTICLES IN THE HOW-TO BULLET-PROOF YOUR REASONING SERIES
How to Bullet-proof Your Reasoning #1: Watch out for Confirmation Bias!
All the best,
Pascal
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