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Can we prove a negative?

Ryan2065

Ryan2065

Well-Known Member
Is it really possible to prove a negative?

In example, can you ever really prove that something does not exist?

I came across this and find it quite funny....

http://www.infidelguy.com/pedent/onprovinganegative.html
To know for certain that there are no unicorns, for example, one would have to check not only the local parks and zoos, but also all of the remote parts of the Earth. We would have to comb the Amazon rainforest, and the mountains of Tibet, just in case there’s a (particularly hardy) specimen lurking out there somewhere. In fact, we’d even have to look in space, to rule out the existence of extra-terrestrial unicorns. Because space is infinite, the task of checking that something does not exist is infinite, and it is therefore impossible to prove any negative existential claim.
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So what do you guys think, is it impossible to prove a negative?
 
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emetib47

New Member
no because couldn't you have missed it or something. you can't really prove anything it's just assumed. it's assumed that passanger pigions are extinct but are they couldn't there still be one or two out there it's just assumed that there aren't. it's like numbers we assume that one equals one when in all reality it could equal five hundred. you can't really prove that something doesn't exist. its just assumed.
 
Ryan2065

Ryan2065

Well-Known Member
emetib47 said:
you can't really prove anything it's just assumed.
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Yes, you can prove things. For instance to prove that something exists, all you have to do is find one, and there, your proof is done!
 
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emetib47

New Member
Ryan2065 said:
Yes, you can prove things. For instance to prove that something exists, all you have to do is find one, and there, your proof is done!
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okay that's a good point. but are most people going to comb the world to find something that they were taught was only in fairytales like oh i don't know unicorns or something like that... i would but then again that's me because you are right you find one and there's your proff.
 
Jayhawker Soule

Jayhawker Soule

-- untitled --
Premium Member
The issue is frequently, perhaps even commonly, confused.

Of course I can prove a positive.
I own a copper 2005 Murano.​
Of course I can prove a negative.
There is no rhino in the back seat.​
So, what's the problem?

The issue was popularized (if that's the appropriate word) by Kark Popper, who was speaking of universal existential statements. He noted that one coud never prove such universals, whether they be formulated positively ...
All Ravens Are Black​
or negatively ...
There Exists No White Raven​
What was possible, however, was falsification.
 
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