Know whose job it is to prove it

The person making the claim carries the bag.

If someone asserts something, it's on them to support it — not on you to disprove it. 'You can't prove it's safe' is not evidence that it isn't. Learn to say, kindly, 'that's a claim — what's it resting on?' and let the silence do some work.

Instead of

Fine, well, I can't prove it's NOT true, so…

Try

That's a big claim. What's it based on?

Try it today

Once today, when someone states something as fact, ask where it comes from — warmly, and then wait.

The science

Bertrand Russell's teapot (1952): the burden lies with the claimant. Hitchens' razor states it as 'what can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence'.

Where you'd actually use it

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Knowing it and doing it are different skills.

FlowTalk drops you into the argument where "know whose job it is to prove it" is the thing that saves you — and judges what you actually said.

Make your case — free