The strategic demand for evidence that cannot exist in principle, often used to dismiss claims that are nevertheless well-supported by the evidence that does exist. Unlike demanding more evidence (which can be reasonable), this fallacy demands evidence of a fundamentally different kind—usually the kind that would require time travel, omniscience, or violation of physical law to obtain. "Where were you at 3:17 AM on June 12th, 2008?" when discussing a general pattern of behavior. "Show me a fossil of the exact moment one species became another" when discussing evolution. It weaponizes the impossibility of perfect records against the possibility of any knowledge at all.
Example: "He demanded security footage from a store that burned down in 1985 to prove I shopped there—pure Fallacy of Impossible Evidence, since the evidence he required was literally ashes."
by Dumu The Void March 11, 2026
Get the Fallacy of Impossible Evidence mug.A branch of philosophy that examines the nature, justification, and implications of evidence-based orthodoxy—asking philosophical questions about the foundations of evidence-based approaches themselves. The philosophy of evidence-based orthodoxy investigates the epistemological status of evidentiary hierarchies: Are RCTs really always the best evidence? How do we know that systematic reviews are reliable? What counts as evidence for the evidence hierarchy itself? It also examines the values embedded in evidence-based approaches: Whose evidence counts? What kinds of knowledge are excluded? How do evidentiary standards serve institutional interests? The philosophy of evidence-based orthodoxy is essential for evidence-based practice to be self-aware rather than merely assumed, for practitioners to understand the philosophical foundations of their methods rather than treating them as self-evident.
Example: "His philosophy of evidence-based orthodoxy work asked whether the evidence hierarchy can justify itself—or whether it's a matter of faith that RCTs are best, since the claim itself hasn't been tested by RCT. Evidence-based practice may rest on foundations it can't examine with its own tools."
by Abzugal March 16, 2026
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A branch of sociology that examines how evidence-based orthodoxies are socially constructed, maintained, and challenged within professional communities. The sociology of evidence-based orthodoxy investigates how evidentiary hierarchies become institutionalized through training, how they're maintained through professional standards and funding priorities, how alternative approaches (qualitative research, community knowledge, practitioner experience) are marginalized, and how the orthodoxy responds to challenges from those who question its hierarchy. It also examines the role of evidence-based orthodoxy in professional boundary-work—distinguishing "real" professionals from "quacks," "scientific" practice from "anecdotal" approaches, "legitimate" knowledge from "mere" experience. The sociology of evidence-based orthodoxy reveals that evidentiary hierarchies aren't just about epistemology; they're also about professional power, institutional authority, and the social construction of expertise.
Example: "Her sociology of evidence-based orthodoxy research showed how the hierarchy of evidence serves professional interests—elevating researchers over practitioners, quantitative over qualitative expertise, academic knowledge over community wisdom. The hierarchy isn't just about truth; it's about who gets to say what counts."
by Abzugal March 16, 2026
Get the Sociology of Evidence-Based Orthodoxy mug.July 9th, a day where any PBST Tier 1+ are allowed to bully an Elite Tier outside of official events without any punishment or drawbacks.
by a pbst cadet July 9, 2025
Get the Bully a PBST Elite Tier day mug.July 9th, a day where any PBST Tier 1+ are allowed to bully an Elite Tier outside of official events without any punishment or drawbacks.
by a pbst cadet July 9, 2025
Get the Bully a PBST Elite Tier Day mug.An alternative to evidence-based decision making, "decision-based evidence making" is the practice of collecting evidence to support a pre-existing decision, rather than using evidence in any way to inform the decision itself.
This technique typically involves cherry-picking sources or relying on bad or unreliable authorities to justify or legitimise (after the fact) a questionable decision which has already been made.
This technique typically involves cherry-picking sources or relying on bad or unreliable authorities to justify or legitimise (after the fact) a questionable decision which has already been made.
Dr. Daniel Jernigan resigned from CDC in 2025, telling reporters that Robert F Kennedy Jr seems to be "going from evidence-based decision making to decision-based evidence making" as the Centres for Disease Control began citing debunked studies to support a dodgy claim that vaccines cause autism.
by bitchuck November 20, 2025
Get the decision-based evidence making mug.The principle that evidence operates in two modes: absolute evidence (facts that are evidence regardless of perspective, context, or interpretation) and relative evidence (facts that serve as evidence only within particular frameworks, for particular purposes, to particular audiences). The law acknowledges that some evidence is universally compelling—a video of a crime, a DNA match, a document with a signature. Other evidence is context-dependent—statistics that prove one point to one audience and the opposite to another, testimony that's credible in one culture and suspect in another. The law of absolute and relative evidence reconciles the intuition that evidence should be objective with the reality that its force depends on who's judging. Good arguments use both kinds, building on undeniable facts while understanding that interpretation is always relative.
Example: "They argued about whether the data was evidence of climate change. Absolute evidence: the temperature readings were real, measurable, undeniable. Relative evidence: whether those readings proved catastrophic warming depended on models, interpretations, and assumptions. The law of absolute and relative evidence said: the data was absolute; its meaning was relative. They stopped arguing about the data and started arguing about interpretation."
by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal February 16, 2026
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