my standard approach is to follow the old, standard
"The burden of proof is on the proposer."
Or, it is not up to me to try to debunk such a claim. And I'm not obligated either to debunk the claim or accept it.
So I want to discard essentially all claims that don't come with solid information, the "proof".
Right, such proof can be good stuff in pure math and in parts of mathematical physics but less good elsewhere.
If there is a claim such as
The tap water is toxic.
as long as we have sources of safe water, we might make a decision to avoid the tap water and go with the safe water until we have more evidence about the tap water.
And that is where it seems we are stuck on practical decision methodology and procedures.
Yeah, but what's a proof? What if Putin try to poison Navalny (as he did), but will deny it? Everybody believes that, but there is no proof that he is in charge.
Does it mean that this is misinformation until proven otherwise, and Russian censorship is justified?
Your example appears to be similar to my example of the tap water: In a case of a threat but without proof, we may make a decision that will help us be safe.
Otherwise, in a case without threat, we are reluctant to devote the resources to develop a proof and just ignore the claim that has no proof.
Putin is a thief.
my standard approach is to follow the old, standard
"The burden of proof is on the proposer."
Or, it is not up to me to try to debunk such a claim. And I'm not obligated either to debunk the claim or accept it.
So I want to discard essentially all claims that don't come with solid information, the "proof".
Right, such proof can be good stuff in pure math and in parts of mathematical physics but less good elsewhere.
If there is a claim such as
The tap water is toxic.
as long as we have sources of safe water, we might make a decision to avoid the tap water and go with the safe water until we have more evidence about the tap water.
And that is where it seems we are stuck on practical decision methodology and procedures.