“But Evidence”

Asking for evidence looks easier than it seems. Sometimes it’s felicitous. Other times it leads to sealioning. It can also be a form of abuse {1}. Depends on the relevance of the request. Is it related to a claim you said? If not, let contrarians go RTFR (Read The Funny Report). Only after they make an effort should you offer breadcrumbs. Reciprocation is a Good Thing.

Also, evidence is never really direct, it rests on reasoning. Sometimes, different people see different things when they look at the evidence. Evidence always trump theory. In theory, at least. The history of science is littered with contrary evidence.

Examples

There is no convincing evidence that carbon dioxide causes temperature warming beyond natural cyclical limits long observed and recorded.
(Electroverse)

What hard evidence should convince a rational person that the weather and/or climate are any worse now than 10, 100, or 1,000 years ago?
(TomN)

Objections and Replies

Climate Change. How can 1C in 170 years produce climate change?
☞ A 1 C warming in the climate is — by definition — climate change!

Causation. Correlation is not causation—
☞ Quite true, and causation there is.

Correlation. There is no correlation between CO2 and warming—
☞ Of course there is. Allow Eli to explain.

Direct. Gimme direct evidence of the greenhouse effect—
☞ I am not right in front of you, so it might be hard. But we know that in dry desert areas nights cool very rapidly, whereas in warm moist jungle areas it does not cools as rapidly. Is that direct enough for you? (H/T Bob Droege)

Effect. Gimme evidence for the effect of CO2 on—
I see you’re a tough customer. How about the accumulation of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) during a single calendar year? (H/T Entropic Man)

Existential Crisis. There is no evidence of an existential crises—
☞ Usually, those who have evidence of their own existential crises are in no position to be able to produce it.

Experiment. Name a simple one. experiment that proves CO2 warms the atmos—
☞ Here is a simple one. Get new material.

Gimme. Gimme evidence of AGW—
☞ Here you go: climate.nasa.gov/evidence.

Greenhouse. Gimme evidence that the greenhouse effect works—
☞ Mercury is colder than Venus.

Harm. Gimme evidence that CO2 ever harmed—
☞ Harm is a judgment, not an observation. Some of the CO2 is the result of fossil fuel combustion. Particulate matter kills 1 person out of 5 worldwide.

Future. Gimme evidence that CO2 will harm—
☞ We do not have evidence about the future.

Laboratory. Gimme laboratory evidence—
☞ Experiments give empirical results. You can use them as evidence for some other judgment, but only in an indirect way.

Metric. I’d welcome actual testable evidence and argument to —
☞ Mayo or mustard in your sammich {1}?

No. There is no evidence that—
☞ Pure, unsupported denial isn’t the best way not to be taken as a denier. Go RTFR yourself.

Real-Life. Gimme real-life evidence—
☞ As opposed to what? Srsly, I have no idea what you’re asking or why it would matter for the price of tea.

Undetectable. A warming of 1C in a home would likely be undetectable—
☞ You should buy a new thermostat. Also note that more than one-fifth of all humans live in regions that have already seen warming greater than 1.5 degrees Celsius in at least one season.

Notes

{1} Sammich. The “gimme” gives away that the square is about sammich request. A demand is more than a request. My usual reply is to ask back what ingredients the querent wants in it. Without knowing in advance what would meet a demand, it’s no use to oblige.

{2} Proof. Contrarians seldom ask for an engineer-level formal deduction, but sometimes they do. Such deduction does not exist in empirical sciences. Proofs belong to formal sciences.

Examples

Objections and Replies

Notes

Further Readings