Unsubstantiated

The JC’S favourite Big Ideas™ →Go uptown There are six types of known. The Rumsfeld three: Known knowns: Things you do know you know; Known unknowns: Things you do know you don’t know; Unknown unknowns: Things you don’t know you don’t know; And the Jolly Contrarian three: Unknown knowns: Things you don’t know you do know. Not officially known: Things you know but the general public can’t prove. Knowable unknowns: Things you don’t know, but think you do know, for the time being, because computers. Index: Click ᐅ to expand: Big ideas The Devil’s Advocate Philosophy Tell me more Sign up for our newsletter — or just get in touch: for ½ a weekly 🍺 you get to consult JC. Ask about it here.

Unsubstantiated
/ʌnsəbˈstanʃɪeɪtɪd/ (adj.)

A bullshit artist’s tell. Something inconvenient or embarrassing that happened, but for which there is currently no proof or credible supporting or evidence.

To be contrasted something that did not happen, which may comfortably described as “false”.

The probe came after reports emerged that an Australian border protection official allegedly paid the captain and crew of a boat carrying about 65 asylum seekers about US$30,000 to turn back to Indonesia in late May.

The Australian immigration minister, Peter Dutton, said on Thursday the claims had not been substantiated. But he did not provide more details, saying the government has a policy of not commenting on operational matters.

Thus, it is easy enough to disarm, by asking, “but is it untrue?”

“Substantiation” is thus a second-order property of a fact: something that, in the eyes of the outside world, falls between a “known known” and an “unknown known” in Rumsfeld’s taxonomy — call it a “not officially known”. This is a fact that, in the interior world of the person making the statement, falls squarely in the former category but, as far as she is prepared to admit to her audience, falls in the latter one.

See also

• Truth
• Rumsfeld’s taxonomy
• Forensic epistemology