Disproof Quotes
Logicians and others often state: “It is impossible to prove a negative.” For example, there were those who suggested that the HIV virus could not be transmitted by mosquitoes. They pointed to the lack of any research proving that misquotes could not transmit the virus as evidence that there was a likely risk. However, the scientist had shown that there was not a single case yet where mosquitoes could be implicated—even in areas of high mosquito infestation. But there is no way of doing an experiment to show that in no possible case or circumstance could a mosquito transmit the virus or a butterfly or hurricanes. Generally negatives cannot be established with logical rigor.
This is a useful quotation which although originally intended to apply to the sciences, political theories and ideology are often also impervious to modification even in the face of facts of failed policies or programs. Economic theories are particularly susceptible to still being believed in the face of contradicting facts.
