Mind & MortalityAnswer
Do animals have feelings like we do?
Responsiveness, learning and felt experience are different claims, with different evidence.
TOPIC
Evidence.
Stories and answers about #Evidence
FROM THE QUESTION LIBRARY
Short answers, with sources.
How We KnowAnswer
Does science ever prove anything for certain?
Proof belongs to mathematics and logic, while science builds strong, testable confidence from evidence, and that difference is a strength, not a weakness.
Extraordinary ClaimsAnswer
Have UFOs been shown to be alien spacecraft?
Government and NASA reviews have looked hard at UFO reports, so here is what they explained, what they could not explain, and why a missing answer is not the same as an alien one.
How We KnowAnswer
How can you tell good science from bad science?
Good science shows how a claim was tested and gives other people enough information to challenge it.
How We KnowAnswer
How do scientists know how old rocks and fossils are?
Rock layers show what came first, and natural atomic clocks help put dates on that history.
How We KnowAnswer
What are the most common thinking traps, and how do we avoid them?
Every human mind takes shortcuts, including the minds of scientists and of the people who wrote this page, so here are the best-known traps and the habits that help.
How We KnowAnswer
Why do extraordinary claims need extraordinary evidence?
A claim that breaks with a mountain of past evidence has to climb that mountain first, so here is where the rule came from, when surprising claims won, when they failed, and how to use the rule fairly.
Meaning & LifeAnswer
Why do rituals comfort people, and do lucky charms actually help?
A valued practice, a feeling of comfort and a claim about luck need different kinds of assessment.
Extraordinary ClaimsAnswer
Why does a Ouija board seem to move on its own?
A pointer can move under your fingers even when you do not feel that you are moving it.
Extraordinary ClaimsEssay · personal view
Who Built the Pyramids? We Did
The Great Pyramid does not become less astonishing when we remove aliens from the story. It becomes more astonishing, because the evidence points to human planning, labor, care, and accumulated skill.
Extraordinary ClaimsExplainer
What Would Count as Evidence?
A practical way to move from an intriguing report to a conclusion that someone else can test.
Extraordinary ClaimsClaim examination
Does an Unidentified Object Prove Aliens?
A report can be sincere and still leave the cause unknown. Here is how to examine the leap from sighting to explanation.