Why is everyone so hung up on scientific evidence and research studies?
When anyone makes a claim about anything (whether it be the alien-driven spacecraft that landed on their front lawn, or the latest miracle muscle-building supplement) a very simple question can be asked. Is the claim true or false? How would a person go about verifying if a claim is either true or false? Early philosophers liked to think about something (introspective method), believing that logic could lead them to the truth. However, this often fell short. The introspective method was improved upon by use of the observational method. People would observe something closely and then make conclusions about the truth or falsity of a claim. However, this method has inadequacies as well. These inadequacies were never more evident than with Hans the counting horse. Yes, you could ask this horse to count to 5 and it would stamp its hoof five times. You could tell it to multiply 5 and 5 and it would stamp its hoof 25 times. The horse was amazingly accurate, even more so than some schoolchildr
