In Tad Williams' book "Shadowmarch," the character Avin Brone highlights the challenge of dispelling rumors. He expresses that once a rumor takes hold, it becomes significantly harder to disprove than to prove its existence. This suggests that falsehoods can spread rapidly and create a lasting impact regardless of their veracity.
Brone's observation underscores a common social dilemma where negative information can overshadow the truth. The difficulty in proving a negative creates an imbalance in communication, making it easy for misinformation to flourish while the truth struggles to be acknowledged and accepted.