The obligation to produce evidence rests on whoever asserts, not on whoever doubts.
The claimant produces evidence; the doubter need not disprove. Reversing it — demanding proof that something is not so — creates an obligation that cannot be discharged.
In practice
- Someone claiming a colleague leaked the document owes evidence; the colleague owes nothing until it arrives.
- A vendor asserting their system is secure must show it, and "no one has proved it insecure" is not the same sentence.
- Subject
- Science & Epistemology
- Essay
- Rules for weighing claims