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James Randi - Cant Prove a Negative

James Randi lecture excerpt from a 2 hour lecture at Caltech in 1992. James Randi explains why you can not prove a negative. The burden of proof is on the person presenting the claim. He then goes into an example of how you can't prove that Reindeer can fly.

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13 Comments

Current View: 15 / Show all Comments

gardendaleguy : LVL 38: VP 4.6: said:

gardendaleguy

Hidden (Show Comment) -22 votes

16 days 19 hours ago...

he said "stick them on the world trade center" ..pause for silence...
LOL!

ratbag1410 : LVL 33: VP 4.2: said:

ratbag1410

20 votes NegativePositive

16 days 1 hour ago...

^ what was funny about the WTC 1n 1992??

Zodd_25 : LVL 31: VP 4: said:

Zodd_25

9 votes NegativePositive

16 days 1 hour ago...

i love james randi, "write down no.... really NO" funniest non comedic guy i know.

Asuka : LVL 37: VP 4.5: said:

Asuka

9 votes NegativePositive

14 days 7 hours ago...

He is quite funny when trying to prove his point.

Deathhawk : LVL 9: VP 1.8: said:

Deathhawk

4 votes NegativePositive

14 days 7 hours ago...

"Push....." *looks over edge*

lol

yt : LVL 6: VP 1.5: said:

yt

Hidden (Show Comment) -11 votes

14 days 1 hour ago...

"..I don`t know, but here comes another one." lol

You need to prove to me that `you can`t prove a negative` before I believe you.

By being more specific it`s easier to prove things. You can prove that none of those reindeer flew on that particular day. Can prove that a person was not able to use ESP in a particular instance.

And in `reality` the burden of proof, or some evidence, is on both those interested in proving and disproving claims. However proof itself is a bit philosophical and irrelevant anyway. people believe what they want.

It appears God put somebodies head on upside down.

DingoDango : LVL 57: VP 5: said:

DingoDango

-2 votes NegativePositive

13 days 13 hours ago...

I`m an atheist and I love the work that James Randi has done, but I`m just going to have to shit on everyone`s parade here and tell you all that actually, yes, you CAN prove a negative. At least you can in so much as you can prove anything at all.

The really funny irony here is that the proposition "You can`t prove a negative" is a negative itself - so if you could prove it true, it wouldn`t be true! Uh oh!

That deep, intrinsic contradiction alone should turn you away from that erroneous folk logic. But if you`d like to learn more:

http://departments.bloomu.edu/philosophy/pages/content/hales/artic
lepdf/proveanegative.pdf

KuRRopT : LVL 33: VP 4.2: said:

KuRRopT

1 votes NegativePositive

13 days 11 hours ago...

^ Kinda like if nothing is impossible, then it would be impossible for something impossible to exist

fattirefury : LVL 43: VP 5: said:

fattirefury

2 votes NegativePositive

13 days 10 hours ago...

He makes me Randi!

AMWhy : LVL 30: VP 3.9: said:

AMWhy

3 votes NegativePositive

13 days 10 hours ago...

Fermats Last Theorem: x^n + y^n = z^n is impossible if n is greater or equal to 3. This is a negative statement that was proved (after 400 years of top mathematicians trying) by the Brit, Andrew Wiles in 1995. Negatives can be proved.

Good video though - informative and entertaining!

Dionysus187 : LVL 32: VP 4.1: said:

Dionysus187

0 votes NegativePositive

13 days 5 hours ago...

may be able to prove a negative, but the fact remains that the burden of proof is on the person that is making the claim of a positive. Or at the very least, the initial claim.

DingoDango : LVL 57: VP 5: said:

DingoDango

1 votes NegativePositive

12 days 12 hours ago...

Wow, I can`t believe I got downvoted for speaking the truth. You guys are making atheists look bad. Fucking religious atheist idiots. You are the same as the those you denounce.

exploder : LVL 50: VP 5: said:

exploder

0 votes NegativePositive

12 days 7 hours ago...

^ I agree DingoDango. I vote up intelligent contributions whether I agree or not, unless they are really super bad fucked on principle (Csmack the Catholic butlick comes to mind, haven`t heard from him for a good while).

All this down voting is pretty intolerant. Like yt`s comment above, quite reasonable, something to think about, and I have to agree that reality is messier than principle and the burden of proof / evidence rests with both parties to some degree.

Randi does not deserve vain God status people.

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