Falsifikaation

Falsifikaation is a philosophical concept central to the scientific method. It proposes that for a theory or hypothesis to be considered scientific, it must be possible to conceive of an observation or an experiment that could prove it false. This principle was most famously articulated by the philosopher Karl Popper.

Popper argued that science progresses not by accumulating confirmed observations, which he believed could always be explained away by ad hoc adjustments, but by identifying and eliminating false theories. A theory that survives rigorous attempts at falsification is considered corroborated, meaning it has withstood testing, but it is never definitively proven true.

The idea behind falsification is that it is easier to prove something wrong than to prove it right. For example, the statement "all swans are white" can be falsified by a single observation of a black swan. Conversely, no matter how many white swans are observed, it does not definitively prove the original statement true because a black swan might still exist undiscovered.

In practice, falsification involves formulating testable predictions from a theory. If these predictions are then contradicted by empirical evidence, the theory is considered falsified. This does not necessarily mean the theory is completely abandoned, but it requires modification or rejection. The emphasis on falsifiability distinguishes scientific claims from non-scientific or pseudoscientific ones, which often lack the potential for empirical disproof.