28 July 1902- 17 Sept. 1994

Karl Popper died on September 17 1994. One thing that gets revived in my new book (Statistical Inference as Severe Testing, 2018, CUP) is a Popperian demarcation of science vs pseudoscience Here’s a snippet from what I call a “live exhibit” (where the reader experiments with a subject) toward the end of a chapter on Popper:

Live Exhibit. Revisiting Popper’s Demarcation of Science: Here’s an experiment: Try shifting what Popper says about theories to a related claim about inquiries to find something out. To see what I have in mind, join me in watching a skit over the lunch break:

Physicist: “If mere logical falsifiability suffices for a theory to be scientific, then, we can’t properly oust astrology from the scientific pantheon. Plenty of nutty theories have been falsified, so by definition they’re scientific. Moreover, scientists aren’t always looking to subject well corroborated theories to “grave risk” of falsification.”

Fellow traveler: “I’ve been thinking about this. On your first point, Popper confuses things by making it sound as if he’s asking: When is a theory unscientific? What he is actually asking or should be asking is: When is an inquiry into a theory, or an appraisal of claim H unscientific? We want to distinguish meritorious modes of inquiry from those that are BENT. If the test methods enable ad hoc maneuvering, sneaky face-saving devices, then the inquiry–the handling and use of data–is unscientific. Despite being logically falsifiable, theories can be rendered immune from falsification by means of cavalier methods for their testing. Adhering to a falsified theory no matter what is poor science. On the other hand, some areas have so much noise that you can’t pinpoint what’s to blame for failed predictions. This is another way that inquiries become bad science.”

She continues: Continue reading →