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Re: [Phys-l] "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof."



another links attempt:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcello_Truzzi

http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/WMFJA085/en


On 2011, Mar 23, , at 02:42, Brian Blais wrote:

On Mar 23, 2011, at 2:32 AM, Bernard Cleyet wrote:

In searching for the above, I discovered that Sagan did not originate the expression, tho modified and popularized it. Instead, it has a long history "going back" at least to Hume.

Marcello Truzzi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


bc first read quoted by JD, and donates to Wikipedia; so should you., well, maybe, not everyone.


not-so-small nit-pick: Sagan never said "proof", he said evidence. not sure about Hume, but the difference is significant.


bb

and so my broken link reads:

Truzzi is credited with originating the oft-used phrase "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof," which Carl Sagan then popularized as "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."[15] However, this is a rewording of a quote byLaplace which goes, "The weight of evidence for an extraordinary claim must be proportioned to its strangeness."[16] This, in turn, may have been based on the statement "A wise man, therefore, proportions his belief to the evidence" by David Hume.[15]

bc never claimed Sagan said (or wrote) proof. An important picking of the nit.