Anecdotal evidence

[Tight_N_Juicy]

After reading the other thread in the Relationships, Jealousy and Discrimination forum titled 'newly divorced man' it got me thinking about the title of this thread.

When do you think it's relevant to use a personal experience as potential 'evidence' or to back up an argument/position?

 

[Wildbig]

Is this really a good forum for relevence, honesty, or logic?

 

[inspectordickins]

After reading the other thread in the Relationships, Jealousy and Discrimination forum titled 'newly divorced man' it got me thinking about the title of this thread.

When do you think it's relevant to use a personal experience as potential 'evidence' or to back up an argument/position?

You see, I keep hearing that my fellow n-words get unfairly treated by the police, can't walk around town without being controlled, get severely beaten up when they spend the night in custody, etc.
I'm now 22 and I've never ever been controlled by the police, despite having been in situations where that could have been legitimate.

Does that mean what they say is false? Certainly not!
Anecdotal evidences or testimonies, let's admit they are honest and not exaggerated, are proofs that some things can happen under certain circumstances, but they don't give any information about the frequency at which these events happen.

Very few things in life are absolute, moreso when they concern human interactions. That's why adding your personal experience to your argument can only give it more weight but cannot be used as an evidence. It may help draw a pattern but not create an absolute rule.
Hell, even scientific theories, that are the only things that I would consider absolute, get challenged everyday and get replaced by more relevant ones when they are proven wrong (or not entirely true).

 

[halcyondays]

After reading the other thread in the Relationships, Jealousy and Discrimination forum titled 'newly divorced man' it got me thinking about the title of this thread.

When do you think it's relevant to use a personal experience as potential 'evidence' or to back up an argument/position?

It's relevant when opining on one's personal experience as he is.

It's irrelevant when generalizing about men, women, marriage, relationships, etc.

 

[Beedie Tijii]

It's relevant when opining on one's personal experience as he is.

It's irrelevant when generalizing about men, women, marriage, relationships, etc.

+1

Anecdotal evidence, in the absence of other types of evidence, is often a good indicator of various types of bias. But it depends on the scope of the argument being made. It's true that most types of evidence can only lend credence, in varying degrees, to the plausibility of an argument. But anecdotes should not be used as evidence of a larger trend.

 

[185248]

After reading the other thread in the Relationships, Jealousy and Discrimination forum titled 'newly divorced man' it got me thinking about the title of this thread.

When do you think it's relevant to use a personal experience as potential 'evidence' or to back up an argument/position?

I think advice in most cases ids like advertising..advertisements. How often does someone go out and buy something because they see it advertised on TV? Or in the newspapers or anywhere else?

Advice is similar to this I think. In the end, usually people will take their own advice...unless you have a solicitor or lawyer you are paying for advice.............then again, how well does that work out

If someone posts for advice here, it's free, you have to expect dickheads like me to point out the obvious......but if someone wishes to look closely, there is dew drop of wisdom ..............somewhere

Unless someone has a gun to your head or similar reason..................... what decisions one makes are their own.

 

[185248]

Me hopes that was a little anecdotal and amusing..