Erin Welsh

It's interesting to think about this idea of self-evident truths, thinking back to, okay, yes, there's superstition and this person is a witch based on these signs or whatever.

Was that also viewed as proof?

One of the things that you mentioned was the use of proof and evidence in the legal system.

And I feel like this was a really fascinating discussion in your book as well, where this is employed as proof beyond a reasonable doubt or innocent until proven guilty.

What does this show us about the variable level of evidence needed to make a decision and I guess the different forms that proof can take in this setting?

Let's take a quick break here.

We'll be back before you know it.

Welcome back, everyone.

I'm here chatting with Dr. Adam Kucharski about his book, Proof.

Let's get into some more questions.

Thinking about this in the context of COVID, when things were evolving very rapidly, the situation was evolving rapidly, and the general public and, of course, government officials wanted answers and wanted decisions.

What is the best thing to do?

Wear masks, not wear masks, sanitize groceries, all these things that were just

constant questions and people wanting hard answers, like just yes, period, end of.

As someone who was on the informational front lines of the COVID pandemic, what was your relationship with uncertainty like at that time?

Did you struggle with feeling like we don't have enough information yet?

You know, how did that feel, I guess, in your position?

you mentioned how we have these different data sources, these different studies that are all leading us in a certain direction.

And we have, by this point in time, developed ways to measure both the quantity and quality of evidence.

I really enjoyed your discussion on randomized controlled trials because this quote-unquote gold standard of medical studies, that might not always be the gold standard.