Falsifiability

:This page discusses how a theory or assertion is "falsifiable" ("disprovable" opp: "verifiable"), rather than the non-philosophical use of "falsification", meaning "counterfeiting." The idea comes from the work of the philosophers Sir Karl Popper and Ernest Gellner.

Popper's swan argument

One notices a white swan, from this one can conclude:

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:At least one swan is white.

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From this, one may wish to infer that:

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:All swans are white.

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However, to prove this, one must find all the swans in the world and verify that they are white. This is nigh impossible, and extensions such as, All swans have always been white would require a time machine as would all swans will always be white. Therefore, this cannot be proven.

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As it turns out, not all swans are white. By finding a black swan, one has falsified the statement all swans are white; it is not true. We have to refine our paradigm to a more specific statement, thus

Related Topics:
Black swan - Paradigm

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:All swans except Cygnus atratus are white; C. atratus is black.

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