falsificabil

Falsificabil is the property of a statement, hypothesis, or theory that makes it possible for an empirical observation or experiment to refute it. A falsifiable proposition has testable implications; if a провед observation contradicts those implications, the theory can be considered falsified. Falsifiability is not a claim that the theory is false, only that it could be shown false under some possible circumstances. The concept is central to discussions of scientific methodology and the demarcation between science and non-science.

The idea is closely associated with Karl Popper, who argued that science advances by bold conjectures subjected to potential refutation. For Popper, falsifiability serves as a criterion for scientific status: theories should be falsifiable, and scientists should actively seek empirical tests that could disprove them. A theory that survives many tests but remains open to refutation is considered robust, whereas one that accommodates any possible evidence without risking refutation is viewed as non-scientific.

Examples illustrate the idea. General relativity makes precise, testable predictions such as the deflection of light by gravity and the existence of gravitational waves; observations that contradict these predictions would falsify the theory. By contrast, assertions such as astrology are often criticized as unfalsifiable because they are designed to accommodate any observation.

Critics note that falsifiability is not the sole criterion of scientific worth. Some theories are difficult to test directly or evolve through complex, gradual refinements. Others argue that certain disciplines rely on models that are probabilistic or context-dependent, making strict falsification challenging. Nevertheless, falsifiability remains a widely referenced framework for evaluating empirical content in science.