Are anecdotes the best way to prove or disprove something?

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

Well, anecdotes are based off someone’s personal experience in order to support or disprove a claim, but does that make it universally true?

[TheSpaceGnome]

Yes, because the only way to prove something is to witness it yourself.

[Asker]

But what if your anecdotes are countered with someome else's anecdotes?

[TheSpaceGnome]

Thats why its good to understand circumstances and methodology, and try to replicate results.

Different circumstances often lead to different outcomes.

People also lie and are mistaken.

An anecdote is only useful if its yours. But its also the only useful way to verify.

This comes down to the unfortunate reality that trust is useless to a scientist.

[TheSpaceGnome]

its why I said you have to verify things yourself.