I doubt there's any real disagreement here, the real issue is probably just one of terminology. The "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence" statement is cute but imprecise. A more accurate way of saying this might be, "Absence of evidence does not absolutely rule out the possibility," thereby taking into account the property of tentativity.
Hopefully that suffices, but if not then provide links to the relevant messages in the other thread and I'll take a look.
-- | Percy |
| EvC Forum Director |