# The notion of falsifiability



## cih1355 (Oct 21, 2009)

I have heard that good scientific theories should be falsifiable. What does it mean for something to be falsifiable? Is creationism falsifiable?


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## Christusregnat (Oct 21, 2009)

cih1355 said:


> I have heard that good scientific theories should be falsifiable. What does it mean for something to be falsifiable? Is creationism falsifiable?



Scientific theories are based on the scientific method (empiricism). Creationism is not based on the scientific method, and does not therefore submit to empirical testing to produce such a theory. God Who knows all things told us about it. We may empirically investigate what He has created, but this is not an establishment of a creationist theory.

Cheers,


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## Christoffer (Oct 21, 2009)

cih1355 said:


> I have heard that good scientific theories should be falsifiable. What does it mean for something to be falsifiable? Is creationism falsifiable?



It means that you should be able to falsify it, ie. it should be "vulnerable" to falsification if other contrary evidence shows up.

Statements about transcendent facts aren't falsifiable that way. Those are falsified by revelation.

But really it is a trivial truth. Of course a scientific theory should be falsifiable. OTOH, some people say that all statements should be falsifiable in order to be justified. But that statement itself isn't falsifiable, so it shouldn't be accepted by themselves then.

Moreover, the belief that the external world exists isn't falsifiable. Any evidence to the contrary must presuppose an external world (for the evidence to exist)


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## ClayPot (Oct 21, 2009)

And evolution isn't truly falsifiable, so they are speaking with forked tongue!


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## jandrusk (Oct 22, 2009)

Just remember even the scientific method itself is not emperical, so that the actual laws they are using to prove emperically are not emperical and are therefore transcedent. Since the laws used in science, logic, and nature are transcedent they cannot be falsified.


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