Falsifiability is the assertion that for any hypothesis to have credence, it must be inherently disprovable before it can become accepted as a scientific hypothesis or theory.

It doesn’t mean that you have to prove it’s wrong, but you have to be able to prove whether it is wrong or not.

  • For Popper, that’s what differentiates Science from Pseudo-science (at the time he talked about Albert Einstein vs. Sigmund Freud)

  • Science makes predictions that can be proven wrong (falsifiable)

    • Using data to make future predictions
  • Pseudo-science uses past data to explain the present

    • You can fit your beliefs into the data to confirm your existence
    • You can always find data to confirm a point
  • For Popper, Science disconfirms a hypothesis, while pseudo-science confirms theories


Created on: 2020-10-13 Inspired by: Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-X8Xfl0JdTQ&ab_channel=CrashCourse Related: Nassim Taleb | Karl Popper | Decision-Making Confirmation Bias | Naval