Reference 0002

Test what “disappeared” means

A compact method for separating population change from statistical and cultural erasure.

Reusable method4 questions5 rules

Four questions

Ask what kind of change the evidence can show.

Question 01Demography

What evidence tracks births, deaths, migration, or family formation?

Question 02Labels

Did official or everyday categories change?

Question 03Visibility

Who stopped appearing in censuses, history, or media?

Question 04Survival

What evidence shows continued presence and agency?

Precision rules

Keep each conclusion inside the evidence.

  1. A declining count is not proof of extinction.
  2. Intermarriage changes ancestry and identification; it does not make descendants cease to exist.
  3. A census measures through the categories and questions it provides.
  4. Invisibility can be an outcome even without a single coordinated plan.
  5. Do not replace the disappearance myth with an exact population claim unsupported by data.