Wednesday, January 17, 2018

The Unfalsifiable Left

There is only one real requirement that any hypothesis must have: it must be testable. It must make some predictions about the world, which can then be compared against reality. If the predictions match the observations, then the hypothesis is supported. If they contradict, then the hypothesis must be reworked or abandoned.

If there are no possible observations that could contradict a hypothesis, then it is unusable, because it is untestable. Superstring theory was all the rage for a time in the physics world, but has been mostly tabled because no one knows how they could actually test it. Belief in aliens would fit the bill. How do you disprove their existence? Believers can always just claim they've shrouded themselves with some super-advanced technology that we can't fathom. It's possible, but since we can't test the hypothesis, it's best that we focus our energy on other testable hypotheses which can expand human knowledge. It's also the reason that we don't have to prove our innocence to an accuser. It is often very difficult to prove one didn't do something, so the burden of proof falls on the accuser.

Someone might still support a hypothesis that is unfalsifiable, but such support must be called a belief. They believe the notion, even though it is outside the realm of empirical judgement. At the very least, these beliefs should be personally held and not imposed onto others.

It seems that the platform of the modern left consists entirely of unfalsifiable hypotheses. It's not that there are no observations that could reasonably invalidate the theories, it's that there are no observations that could convince the holders of the belief to invalidate it. Here's a tool you can use if you're ever in a debate with a liberal (heaven forbid) on nearly any subject. Once you find out their irrational belief (they'll let you know!), work in the question: what evidence would cause you to change your mind? There's a good chance they won't be able to provide any, and may even admit that they will never change their mind, no matter how much evidence. Certainly they will have never thought of questioning their beliefs this way, and if they do manage some ad hoc answer it will be easily fielded.

Let's look at just a few examples of unfalsifiable hypotheses of the left.

Global warming. Their theory of manmade global warming cannot be debunked. Hot weather is proof. Cold weather is proof. Hurricanes are proof (even when they come after a notably long dry spell). There are no observations that would dissuade the believers. If the earth glaciated from pole to pole they'd blame it on carbon emissions.

Russia. What evidence would dissuade liberals from believing Trump teamed up with Russia to rig the election? (By, of course, revealing the evidence that Hillary rigged the primaries.) The fact that the witch hunt was triggered by an absurd Democrat-funded PeePee dossier doesn't phase them, nor that the investigation has turned up nothing. The thing is, they've already flipped this on its head. They're forcing the accused to prove his innocence. Even after the kangaroo court has run its course, they'll still believe it happened, Trump just got away with it. Look a how the responded to Comey. First, Trump keeping him on was proof the Trump was protecting his buddy Comey. After Comey was canned, it was proof of obstruction of justice! There was no acceptable action possible.

Trump fitness. After a bunch of squawking that Trump is not psychologically fit for office, Trump had his doctor perform a cognitive screening during his physical. The chorus from the left was predictable. "Just because a person is sharp doesn't mean he's fit for office." "Well it didn't test psychological disorders." "The doctor is a military officer who answers to Trump. We must investigate!" (Never mind that the doctor was appointed by Obama.) There is nothing in this world that will convince these people Trump is fit for office. He needn't have bothered with the screening. The same goes from their belief he is a racist and so on. No possible evidence in the world will change their minds. These are beliefs. You can't reason someone out of a position they didn't reason themselves into.

Socialism. How many times has it been tried? How many times has it led to disaster? It doesn't matter, because they weren't "real" socialism. Socialism could rise a million times and kill a million people each time and they'd still say, "hey man, it's time we try socialism for once!"

Those are just a few examples. No reason to go very deep, because the real question I have is, what liberal beliefs are not unfalsifiable hypotheses?

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