Practice question · Multiple choice
"Everyone has a hidden trauma; if you cannot recall it, that is the repression proving it." Why does Popper's criterion reject this, when it sounds like a serious empirical claim?
Hints
- Try to design the study that would show it false. What result would you need?
- A claim that accommodates every outcome has told you nothing about which outcome to expect.
Show the answer
D. Because recalling a trauma confirms it and failing to confirms it too
Why
Both branches confirm it, so no evidence can reach it. The trouble is not vagueness or lack of support but structure, a claim that cannot fail has said nothing about the world, and its apparent strength is the symptom.
Practise The Scientific Method
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