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A framework analyzing how the demand for “evidence” can chill inquiry when the standard of evidence is set so high that certain questions become unaskable. Demanding “peer-reviewed evidence” for emergent phenomena, or insisting on RCTs for historical claims, effectively bans research on those topics. The chilling effect operates through the pre-emptive dismissal of non-standard evidence sources. It explains why fields like disaster response, rapid emergence, or indigenous knowledge are systematically understudied.
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