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<center>''This is a powerful concept for overcoming regret and debunking untestable assertions: unfalsifiable notions are a waste of time''.</center>

<center>''This is a powerful concept for overcoming regret and debunking untestable assertions: unfalsifiable notions are a waste of time''.</center>

A proposition or theory is '''falsifiable''' if it is possible to show that it is false if it were false.<ref>[http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O87-falsifiability.html Definition] A Dictionary of Psychology, Andrew M. Colman, via encyclopedia.com</ref>  A proposal or theory that could not possibly be shown to be false, even if it were false, is not falsifiable.  Many true theories are falsifiable, such as the prediction that sun will rise in the East tomorrow morning, because if that theory were false then it would be possible to show that it is false.<ref>If the outcome of an actual experiment has an outcome that disproves a theory, then that theory is both falsifiable and demonstrably false.</ref>

A concept is '''falsifiable''' if it is possible to show that it is false if it were false.<ref>[http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O87-falsifiability.html Definition] A Dictionary of Psychology, Andrew M. Colman, via encyclopedia.com</ref>  A concept that could not possibly be shown to be false, even if it were false, is not falsifiable.  Many true theories are '''falsifiable''', such as the prediction that sun will rise in the East tomorrow morning, because if that theory were false then it would be possible to show that it is false.<ref>If the outcome of an actual experiment has an outcome that disproves a theory, then that theory is both falsifiable and demonstrably false.</ref>

The interesting cases of this are propositions that are believed to be true, and can be "verified" by experiments, but the experiments in fact have no way of having a negative outcome.  This renders the experiments useless and the proposition unfalsifiable.

The interesting cases of this are propositions that are believed to be true, and can be "verified" by experiments, but the experiments in fact have no way of having a negative outcome.  This renders the experiments useless and the proposition unfalsifiable.

Popper, and those who agree with him, categorize many types of ideas as unfalsifiable, particularly in psychology and religion.  For example, the proposition "Joe beats his children because his father beat him" is unfalsifiable, because we cannot perform a test in which Joe was ''not'' beaten by his father, and see if Joe still beats his children.  Because the proposition is not testable, according to falsificationism, it is no better than any other hypothesis, and therefore not useful, and not scientific. However, the broader hypothesis "Parents who were beaten as children are more likely to beat their own children" can be falsified - e.g. through surveys - and if that broader hypothesis was supported, it would also lend weight to the position that it was true in Joe's particular case also. Thus, while propositions about specific historical persons or events are not directly falsifiable, they can be indirectly falsifiable insofar as they depend on broader claims that are falsifiable.

Popper, and those who agree with him, categorize many types of ideas as unfalsifiable, particularly in psychology and religion.  For example, the proposition "Joe beats his children because his father beat him" is unfalsifiable, because we cannot perform a test in which Joe was ''not'' beaten by his father, and see if Joe still beats his children.  Because the proposition is not testable, according to falsificationism, it is no better than any other hypothesis, and therefore not useful, and not scientific. However, the broader hypothesis "Parents who were beaten as children are more likely to beat their own children" can be falsified - e.g. through surveys - and if that broader hypothesis was supported, it would also lend weight to the position that it was true in Joe's particular case also. Thus, while propositions about specific historical persons or events are not directly falsifiable, they can be indirectly falsifiable insofar as they depend on broader claims that are falsifiable.

A good example of an unfalsifiable concept is the nature of matter inside [[black hole]]s. By definition, the interior of a black hole cannot be seen and thus assertions about the interior are unfalsifiable.  

A good example of an unfalsifiable concept is the nature of matter inside [[black hole]]s. By definition, the interior of a black hole cannot be seen and thus assertions about the interior are unfalsifiable.

==Carl Sagan==

==Carl Sagan==