falsifikueshmërinë

Falsifikueshmëria, known in English as falsifiability or refutability, is a principle in the philosophy of science that states a scientific theory must be capable of being proven false. This means that there must be some conceivable observation or experiment that could potentially disprove the theory. If a theory can explain all possible outcomes, then it is not falsifiable and therefore not considered scientific.

The concept was most famously articulated by philosopher Karl Popper in the mid-20th century. Popper argued that the demarcation between science and non-science lies in falsifiability, not verifiability. While scientific theories aim to be true, their scientific validity is established by their ability to withstand rigorous testing that could potentially show them to be false. Theories that are not falsifiable, such as certain pseudoscientific claims or unfalsifiable metaphysical statements, cannot be tested and thus fall outside the realm of science.

A key aspect of falsifiability is that it requires a theory to make specific predictions. If these predictions are not met by empirical evidence, the theory can be modified or rejected. This iterative process of proposing hypotheses, testing them, and refining or discarding them based on evidence is central to the scientific method. Without the possibility of falsification, theories would remain unchallenged and unscientific. For example, a statement like "all swans are white" is falsifiable because observing a single black swan would disprove it.