Evidence Prejudice

The cognitive bias underlying Evidence Bigotry: a reflexive dismissal of any claim not accompanied by evidence in the form preferred by the prejudiced person, combined with a willingness to attribute the lack of such evidence to the claimant’s intellectual or mental deficiency. Evidence prejudice often operates automatically, without conscious malice—but its effects are silencing. It treats absence of double‑blind studies as proof of fraud, and it equates “not yet measured” with “unreal.” It is especially common in debates about spirituality, indigenous knowledge, and experiential claims.

Example: “He heard ‘energy healing’ and immediately said ‘that’s pseudoscience, there’s no evidence.’ He never asked what kind of evidence might be appropriate—evidence prejudice, dismissing a practice because it didn’t fit his evidentiary template.”

Evidence Prejudice by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal March 25, 2026