28 AUG 2011 by ideonexus
Karl Popper's Conclusions About Good Theories
It is easy to obtain confirmations, or verifications, for nearly every theory — if we look for confirmations.
Confirmations should count only if they are the result of risky predictions; that is to say, if, unenlightened by the theory in question, we should have expected an event which was incompatible with the theory — an event which would have refuted the theory.
Every "good" scientific theory is a prohibition: it forbids certain things to happen. The more a theory forb...Summarized by the criteria of falsifiability, or refutability, or testability.