The Phrase "No Evidence" Is A Red Flag For Bad Science Communication

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Related to: Doctor, There Are Two Types Of No Evidence; A Failure, But Not Of Prediction. I. Every single one of these statements that had “no evidence” is currently considered true or at least pretty plausible. In an extremely nitpicky sense, these headlines are accurate. Officials were simply describing the then-current state of knowledge. In medicine, anecdotes or hunches aren’t considered “real” evidence. So if there hasn’t been a study showing something, then there’s “no evidence”. In early 2020, there hadn’t yet been a study proving that COVID could be airborne, so there was “no…

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