The Argument From Ignorance

Misconception vs. Truth

Misconception:
When you can’t explain something, you focus on what you can prove.

Truth:
When you are unsure of something, you are more likely to accept strange explanations.

Wonder and Mystical Thinking

• The natural world often elicits a sense of wonder due to the vast amount of things we don't know.
• People can fall into mystical thinking when comparing known facts to unsolved mysteries.
• Science can explain many phenomena that might otherwise be seen as magical or beyond comprehension.

Influence of Mystical and Paranormal Beliefs

• Shows like Unsolved Mysteries and The Unexplained thrive on unsolved or spooky phenomena that science could potentially debunk.
• Mystical New Age tools (e.g., crystals, dowsing rods) exploit our tendency to seek patterns and causes.

Argument from Ignorance Fallacy

• Definition: Believing something is true or false solely due to the lack of evidence proving otherwise.
• People often view all possible causes as equally probable when they can’t definitively prove one.

Common Misconceptions from Argument from Ignorance

• Paranormal activities (hauntings, UFO sightings, cryptids) often gain credence because of the inability to disprove them.
• Lack of evidence for fantastical entities (e.g., leprechauns, unicorns) does not increase their likelihood of existing.
• Phenomena (e.g., life on other planets) are often believed in without evidence, yet lack of evidence doesn’t make them more likely.

Practical Examples

• Not disproving something (e.g., a book not coming to life when you’re away) doesn’t substantiate it.
• Cognitive biases can lead individuals to believe in extraordinary claims without sufficient evidence, such as historical revisionism or conspiracy theories.

Conclusion

• Lack of proof neither confirms nor denies a proposition.
• Critical thinking and acceptance of scientific evidence over open-mindedness without skepticism are essential to avoid the argument-from-ignorance fallacy.