http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUAXEInBEdM&feature=watch_response
At one time or another, we have each taken tests in an academic setting. Why are they called tests? Because their objective is to test this proposition: (This student probably has a good handle on the subject matter). Presumably, if the test is properly designed, then a score above a certain point indicates that the student probably does, and a score below that point indicates that the student probably doesn’t. In order to test this proposition, both possibilities are necessary. In order for this proposition to be properly tested, there must be both a way to tell if it’s probably true and a way to tell if it’s probably false.
Put another way, in order for the act of passing the test to be an accomplishment--in order for it to have any meaning--there has to be a way to fail it. That is this proposition (that the student probably has a grasp on the material) must be both verifiable if true, and falsifiable if false.
A proposition which cannot be proven false by any manifestation also cannot be proven true in any way that really has any meaning. A test of the proposition which has no way to allow for both manifestations is of no use. Any proposition which does not have both a means to be falsified (proven false) and a means to be verified (proven true) is a proposition which can’t really be tested, and therefore can’t really be used. This fallacy is called nonfalsifiability.
What if a product claims to balance the bodily humors? What if you were to try it and it didn’t work? How would you tell? For that matter, how would you tell if it did work? How do “balanced bodily humors” manifest?
They don’t. (This product balances your bodily humors) This claim is impossible to falsify, verify, or test, and therefore, could very well be completely made up.
Here’s another good example: “The arrangement of the furniture in this room is bad feng-shui.” What does that mean? What is feng-shui? How do you tell what kind you have? How do you test this? How do good and bad feng-shui manifest?
Borrowing another example from Carl Sagan, imagine if someone says to you, “I have a dragon in my garage.” That’s a pretty far-fetched claim, isn’t it? That being the case, a little skepticism is clearly called for.
You ask to see it, but the character responds by saying, “It’s invisible.” (ad hoc rationalization)
You then ask if you can sprinkle a little flour on the floor to see the footprints it leaves, but the response is that it’s a weightless dragon which never touches the ground.” (ad hoc rationalization)
Maybe you can touch it, but no. It’s intangible as well. (There’s another)
Maybe, if you happen to have access to one, you can bring an infrared camera to observe the flame from its breath, but no. Apparently (allegedly), the flame it breathes doesn’t give off any heat. (Catching on yet?)
So then you ask how he knows the dragon is there and he responds by asking how you know it isn’t. He shifts the burden.
Clearly, what this fellow has on his hands is not a dragon; it’s a god.
“This pill works on a principle of infinitesimals. That means the smaller the dose you use, the more potent.”
(Hmm) So then if I take none, I will overdose? Apparently, if I take one of these pills and still have the problem it was “prescribed” for, that means I need to use a smaller dose. And how will I know when the dose is small enough? Why, when the problem subsides, of course. And how am I to rule out the possibility that the problem was solved by some factor or some combination of factors I just didn’t happen to notice? Reply hazy.
“God will reveal Himself to you if you just pray hard enough.”
How can this be verified? By God manifesting of course. How can it be falsified? I’m drawing a blank. So how can it be tested? It can’t be. The only way to see this as true is to begin with the assumption that it is.
How hard is hard enough? Well hard enough for God to reveal Himself, of course. Well all right. First, let’s try taking how hard we are currently praying and doubling it. Let’s see how well that works.
But how do we tell when we have doubled how hard we are praying? First, we would need a way to tell how hard we are currently praying. How hard is that? What standard is used to measure, to quantify, how hard someone is praying? How can I be sure that the god that I am praying to is true instead of one of these false gods I keep hearing about who continuously succeed in misleading multitudes? How am I to avoid being so misled? After all, no one’s perfect. People make mistakes. When people are misled, it is by accident. No one is deliberately misled. I would prefer not to be led to hell for making an honest mistake.
“Well you have to put God first.”
But how can I be sure that the god I am putting first is true instead of one of these false gods who keep misleading people?
“Well you have to trust in God to find a way.”
But what if the god I am trusting in is a false god and I just don’t know it? How do I prevent that?
“Well you have to let God into your heart.”
But how can I be sure that I’m not inadvertently letting a false god into my heart?
“You need to open yourself to God.”
How do I tell that the God I am opening myself to is the one who is true instead of one of these false gods?
“You really should take all these questions to God.”
Do you seriously not see the problem with that suggestion by now?
I’ve kind of wandered off topic, but you see my point here, right?
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