it boggles my mind that people put anecdotal evidence over epidemiological studies "i've seen X happen with people i know so it's true" but "collecting evidence over a large population is inconclusive" you either trust both anecdotal evidence and epidemiological studies or you dismiss both
on then low philosophical level, epidemiological studies are just large sets of anecdotal cases
on the low philosophical level, epidemiological studies are just large sets of anecdotal cases
When you have hundreds and thousands of anecdotal reports pointing to the same thing, you now have a good hypothesis, and this is already something profound that needs further investigation. Good researcher considers both in their studies, albeit not giving them equal weight. Priority of evidence should apply.