Well your "pragmatism bar" is higher that all future science. It isnt a trivial sceptical point. Does CO2 cause climate change, or climate change cause C02, o

Well your "pragmatism bar" is higher that all future science. It isnt a trivial sceptical point. Does CO2 cause climate change, or climate change cause C02, or are they both caused by a hidden factor (one of many) or do they co-vary accidentally (ie., no joint cause)? No "statistical significance" of any kind can decide between them, yet this is how it is used. There is no way to do so with statistics; it requires repeated experimentation and refutation of all plausible causal models until the one remains stands as "the most plausible". "Statistics" is being used in place of the scientific method which it cannot replace. Covariation is not causation: the covarying of any number of variables is consistent with any number of causal models. No "test" decides.