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a Falsifiable/Non-Verifiable Statement needs:
- ONE observation to DISPROVE it
- ALL observations to PROVE it
for example:
- example falsifiable hypothesis:
“All swans are white”
“This swan is black” falsifies “All swans are white”
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a Non-Falsifiable/Verifiable Statement needs:
- ALL observations to DISPROVE it
- ONE observation to PROVE it
for example:
- example verifiable hypothesis:
“There are white swans”
“This swan is white” verifies “There are white swans”
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- Passenger pigeons are extinct
- An alien spaceship did not crash in Roswell New Mexico
- A giant white gorilla does not live in the Himalayan mountains
- Loch Ness does not contain a giant reptile
In each case, if the statement:
- happens to be false, there is evidence (at least one)
- happens to be true, all you will ever find is an absence of evidence
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- Passenger pigeons are not extinct
- An alien spaceship crashed in Roswell New Mexico.
- A giant white gorilla lives in the Himalayan mountains.
- Loch Ness contains a giant reptile
In each case, if the statement:
- happens to be false, all you will ever find is an absence of evidence
- happens to be true, there is evidence (at least one)
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