Canonical forms of claims

Canonical forms should be clear and as neutral in their wording as possible. The negation of a claim should not be treated as a separate claim in the database. Often it will be a judgment call whether a claim or its negation should be the canonical form in the discussion. Frequently the negation of a claim can be worded as an affirmative.

Where there is an answer, the form that is better represented in the source material should supply the canonical form, even if it is an uncommon view. So “the moon landing was a hoax” should be the canonical form, even though it is false and consensus is its negation, since few make the affirmative claim “the moon landing was real” except in response to the claim that it was a hoax.