Falsifiable: meaning, definitions and examples

Etymology

• The word comes from the Latin 'falsificare', meaning to make false or to deceive.
• It was first used in the philosophy of science to differentiate between testable and untestable claims.
• In English, it started appearing in academic texts around the 20th century.

Philosophy

• Philosopher Karl Popper proposed falsifiability as a criterion to determine if a theory is scientific.
• According to Popper, if a theory cannot be tested to show it is false, it is not genuinely scientific.
• This concept revolutionized how scientists think about hypotheses and the scientific method.

Science

• In scientific research, a hypothesis must be falsifiable to be considered valid.
• If experiments can be conducted that might show the hypothesis to be false, it supports rigorous testing.
• For example, since you can test if gravity always pulls down, it's a falsifiable statement.

Psychology

• The concept of falsifiability helps prevent confirmation bias, where people only look for evidence that supports their beliefs.
• Understanding what can be proven false allows psychologists to design better experiments and studies.
• In therapy, therapists encourage clients to examine thoughts that can be challenged or disproven.

Cultural Impact

• In the realm of conspiracies, many claims are criticized for being unfalsifiable, leading to debates about their validity.
• Falsifiability has influenced various fields, from economics to sociology, altering how theories are constructed.
• The idea has permeated popular science literature, promoting critical thinking and skepticism in everyday life.

Ranking #36,499, this word is encountered relatively rarely in everyday English. It might appear in literary works or specialized texts but isn't essential for general communication.

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• 36497 immutably
• 36498 slurp
• 36499 falsifiable
• 36500 defecating
• 36501 convolvulus
• 36502 repatriating
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