Comment by DM on Absence of Evidence Is Evidence of Absence · 2009-04-13T18:37:03.000Z · LW · GW

This is all fine and good, but it does not address what "evidence" is. I cannot gather evidence of extra solar planets (either evidence for or against existence) with my naked eyes. So in this experiment, even though I see no "evidence" of extra solar planets by looking up into the sky, I still do not have evidence of absense, because in fact I have no evidence at all.

Evidence, from the aspect of probability theory, is only meaningful when the experiment is able to differential between existence and absence.

Then the real question becomes: do we have evidence that our experiment is able to yield evidence? And the only way to prove this to the affirmative, is to find something. You cannot know you experiment is designed correctly.