“There is no evidence that [ insert question or concern here ] is true.”

I am seeing a lot of headlines like this about vaccination these days. There’s a rhetorical error here, because an absence of evidence isn’t evidence of absence and cannot equate to a falsification of concern (x). Yet this is how it is being used in the media.

Let’s clarify the problem. In order for a claim like this to have some validity, conscientious, thorough and honest efforts have to be made to »seek the evidence that would overturn or falsify some concern.

It is absurd to simply say ‘we have no evidence that concern (x) is reasonable or valid’ because if the evidence has not been properly sought, this simply describes the state prior to taking concern (x) seriously.