How often have you had something dismissed because it was anecdotal? You have limited senses. Everything you take in with those senses is anecdotal to you.
At some point there seems to be some mysterious threshold where things are no longer considered anecdotal.
If we are referring to something as scientific and thus we are basing it off of a current scientifically proven model then you do have something to measure by. At least until a better model that explains more observations comes along.
Yet this is one of those Chicken and Egg type of situations... Which came first, the chicken, or the egg?
Which came first the anecdotes or the scientific model?
The truth is you cannot truly proceed with the scientific method until you first observe and then make up a hypothesis (i.e. guess, speculate). At that point you can use the scientific method to try to prove, disprove, or refine your hypothesis. If it explains the observations and the experiment to verify this is repeatable by others then it becomes a theory. This is a scientific theory.
A scientific theory is different from theory as it is used say in conjunction with the word conspiracy. If we were to correctly describe what people mean when they say "conspiracy theory" in scientific methodology the true label would be "conspiracy hypothesis".
Anecdotes are important. They are not certainty but they also should not be casually dismissed.
With our senses and what we consume we are all a product of our anecdotal experiences.
