Appeal to Ignorance A fallacy based on the assumption that a statement must be true if it cannot be proved false.

Universal Example Appeal to ignorance can often be found in debates about conspiracies such as aliens, mythology, or even religion. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HABNe7_D22k MLA: “Tide - You can't explain that Bill O'Reilly” Youtube. Youtube, 2 July, 2011. Web. 20 April, 2014.

Mrs. Putnam: “Why, it’s sure she did. Mr Mrs. Putnam: “Why, it’s sure she did. Mr. Collins saw her going over Ingersoll’s barn, and come down light as a bird, he says.” … Mrs. Putnam: “How high did she fly, how high?” Parris: “No, no, she never flew-” (act 1, P.172) Mrs. Putnam is asking how high Betty flew. Parris does not know how high it was; therefore, he cannot know if she flew or not. He also does not know if she is telling the truth about what Mr. Collins said, and she herself cannot know if Mr. Collins was lying.

“Mary- you charge a cold and cruel murder on Abigail. ” (Pg “Mary- you charge a cold and cruel murder on Abigail.” (Pg. 203, Act 2) Cheever and Hale appeal to the ignorance of Mary, John and Elizabeth because none of them know both sides. They cannot prove their own innocence because they know nothing about what happened to Abigail. They cannot prove they had nothing to do with it, so obviously, they did.

“Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.” – Carl Sagan