Consistent with

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Consistent with
(n.)
A phrase which sounds more damning that it has any right to be. Consistency is an attestation of correlation that is often taken by people who should know better, to be one of causation.

That, for example, “blotched, mottled skin is consistent with air embolus” is of little “probative value” unless blotched, mottled skin is not consistent with any other explanation.

If the condition is consistent with a range of common, frequently observed conditions and also the extremely rare incidence of air embolus, then that base rate is highly important: the prior probability that this is a case of air embolus remains low.

See also

• Prosecutor’s tunnel vision
• Direct evidence
• Circumstantial evidence