- Whenever possible there must be independent confirmation of the “facts”
- Encourage substantive debate on the “evidence” by knowledgable proponents of all points of view.
- Arguments from authority carry little weight as “authorities” have made mistakes in the past. They will do so again in the future. Perhaps a better way to say it is that there are no authorities; at most; there are “experts”.
- Spin a variety of hypotheses. If there’s something to be explained, think of all the different ways in which it could be explained. Then think of tests by which you might systematically disprove each. The ones that survive are the ones to do in depth study on.
- Do not become attached to any hypothesis just because it’s yours. Find reasons for rejecting all, including your own, hypothesis.
- Quantify. If whatever you are explaining has a measure, quantify it so that measurement is more possible. Vague hypothesis, or those difficult to quantify will be the most difficult to prove or disprove.
- If there is a chain argument, then each and every link must work, including the premise.
- Use Occam’s Razor; which is to choose the hypothesis that explains the data in the simplest terms.
- Ask: is the Hypothesis testable and falsifiable. Hypothesis that are not testable are not worth much. Could you duplicate accurately, at least theoretically, the hypothesis?
I listen regularly to Hugh Hewitt. I also listen to Mark Levin. Now Mark is my absolute favorite, and I find it so completely entertaining when he tears into statists. I like Hugh, too, but he's almost always been that nice, polite guy. Well, not tonight! He tore into David Frum like you wouldn't believe. I was grinning from ear to ear listening to the exchange. Levin ripped Frum to shreds a few months ago, too. I think Frum picks fights with these guys in order to get his name out to millions of listeners who otherwise wouldn't have a clue who he is, but that's definitely a double-edged sword. They made him look pretty pitiful, and solidified my opinion of him, which is "glad he's no longer still in Canada".
It's been interesting watching the Obama administration implode over the last few months. And so far it seems to have culminated in the Washington march, which to some estimates had over 1 million people (~500K in the march itself, and the rest were stragglers or just went directly to the Capitol building).
The funny thing is the lack of reporting of the scope of this event. More and more it appears that the mainstream media is nothing more than a wing of the Democrat party.