5 ms·
What's an example of something that's unfalsifiable in theory?
by garbagetime 6y ago
What's an example of something that's unfalsifiable in theory?
- pantulis 6y agoThe existence of God.
- garbagetime 6y agoFalsifiable by the observance that there is no God. If we get a view of the supernatural it might be clear that there is no God.
- dspillett 6y agoWill be disproven by the existence of bablefish. Already has been in less backwards parts of the galaxy than ours.
- pantulis 6y agoSorry didn’t understand the bablefish reference, why does that disprove the existence of god? (I could define myself as an atheist anyway so this is really a non issue for me)
- staticman2 6y agoIt's a reference to the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy novels.
- dspillett 6y agoWell, the original radio series upon which the first two books were very closely based, to be pedantic!
- dspillett 6y agoIt is from the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuumnjJWFO4#t=2m07 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuumnjJWFO4#t=2m07 for the TV version's rendition of this bit. If you've not yet experienced H2G2 I suggest tracking down the original radio version before the books, TV, or more modern film - it is widely available to buy in various formats. It is justly recognized as a classic.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- newsbinator 6y agohttps://rationalwiki.org/wiki/The_Dragon_in_My_Garage https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/The_Dragon_in_My_Garage > "A fire-breathing dragon lives in my garage" > "Show me," you say. I lead you to my garage. You look inside and see a ladder, empty paint cans, an old tricycle--but no dragon. > "Where's the dragon?" you ask. > "Oh, she's right here," I reply, waving vaguely. "I neglected to mention that she's an invisible dragon." > You propose spreading flour on the floor of the garage to capture the dragon's footprints. > "Good idea," I say, "but this dragon floats in the air." > Then you'll use an infrared sensor to detect the invisible fire. > "Good idea, but the invisible fire is also heatless." > You'll spray-paint the dragon and make her visible. > "Good idea, but she's an incorporeal dragon and the paint won't stick." > And so on. I counter every physical test you propose with a special explanation of why it won't work. > Now, what's the difference between an invisible, incorporeal, floating dragon who spits heatless fire and no dragon at all? > If there's no way to disprove my contention, no conceivable experiment that would count against it, what does it mean to say that my dragon exists? > Your inability to invalidate my hypothesis is not at all the same thing as proving it true. > Claims that cannot be tested, assertions immune to disproof are veridically worthless, whatever value they may have in inspiring us or in exciting our sense of wonder.
- garbagetime 6y agoWell, if the dragon exists it must have the characteristics of a dragon. Let's say it must be an animal with four legs and a tail. Currently it's unknown whether all animals are q-conscious[1]. Let's say it is discovered that all animals are q-conscious. Therefore the invisible dragon is q-conscious. Currently we don't really understand qualia, but one mainstream theory is that qualia are a different kind of thing to anything else we know about (i.e. are non-physical). Let's say this theory is true, and, further, that a method for detecting this different kind of thing is detected. That the dragon is invisible, floats, is heatless, is incorporeal, doesn't matter. The theory that there is a dragon in the garage is falsifiable by the observation that a scan for qualia results negative. You could say "ah, but this dragon is the dragon of any-test-you-can-come-up-with-doesn't-work, therefore you can't come up with any test which would work". But that would be begging the question. [1]That is, all animals have qualia.