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There’s a story in today’s news that jumped out at me of being a great example of why we need to remember where the burden of proof lies. Too often we see a news story or social media post that confirms our preferred worldview, and we assume the burden of proof should lie with anyone with a dissenting view. E.g., if we see a news story reporting the science-based view that COVID-19 developed naturally in the animal kingdom and was not created in a lab, we correctly assume the burden of proof should lie with those espousing the conjecture that it was created in a Chinese lab, despite all the evidence indicating the contrary.
But ask this same question to someone convinced of the Lab Leak “Theory” and they feel it should be accepted without question, and the burden of proof should lie with those who claim otherwise.
It seems a difficult question! The burden of proof, it seems, should always lie with “them” and never with “us”.
In fact, the burden of proof lies with the person making the new extraordinary claim, a claim that contradicts the prevailing view. I think we’d all give that same definition if asked. But the problem is that — to repeat the above example of the origins of COVID-19 — science people all believe theirs is the prevailing view, and anti-China people believe theirs is the prevailing view. Science people consider the scientists who study this to be the best authorities, while the COVID Truthers believe scientists are corrupt liars and it’s the anti-China pundits and investigative reporters who are best qualified to have the true facts. And remember, nobody consciously believes anything they know to be false. So when I say these groups believe these things, it means they really do believe them — their beliefs are their reality — and, consequently, their view is the prevailing one, and the other view has the burden of proof.
So the question of the burden of proof seems a simple one, but when put into practice in the real world, it does nothing to settle any disputes. It’s a standoff.
Now we’ll move on to the current news item that prompted this wider conversation. It was published June 5, 2023, in The Debrief, a news site notorious for being 100% credulous on the subject of UFOs and alien visitation:
Intelligence Officials Say US Has Retrieved Craft of Non-Human Origin
A former intelligence official turned whistleblower has given Congress and the Intelligence Community Inspector General extensive classified information about deeply covert programs that he says possess retrieved intact and partially intact craft of non-human origin.
The information, he says, has been illegally withheld from Congress, and he filed a complaint alleging that he suffered illegal retaliation for his confidential disclosures, reported here for the first time.