Falsification (was: Teenage Rebellion)

[Jason]

In [rational-politics]
On Monday, October 29, 2012 1:25:42 PM UTC-7, Elliot Temple wrote:
>
>
> On Oct 13, 2012, at 2:33 PM, Jason <auv...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > I have found that the older my kids get the easier it is to talk to them,
> > reason with them, and arrive at mutually agreeable solutions to problems.
>
> This is what most coercive parents find.
>
> "Spare the rod, spoil the child".
>
> The more you break your kids spirit early, the easier things get later. Locke (for example) explained this. Old concept.
>
>
> This is not the only possible way for things to (apparently) get better later on, but it's by far the most common.
>
> Given this is the most common way, anecdotes about things getting better in some guy's experience -- who explicitly doesn't reject coercing kids -- do not have value.
>
> > In TCS terms there is less TCS-coercion going on the older they get,
>
> Or more. Or less but only because the kids have learned their place. From what you've said, we can't tell.
>
> > which is good.
>
> Or bad, depending on how it's achieved.

What tests or observations would falsify TCS?

--Jason

[Alan Forrester]

There are no tests or observations that could do this. The reason is
that TCS is about how people should behave, not how people do behave.
So if people behave in an anti-TCS way this doesn't refute TCS. And if
we were to take seriously the idea that the way people do behave
refutes ideas about how they should behave all moral progress would
end since any moral improvement has to start out as a minority view,
i.e. - most people won't practise it.

Alan

[Rami Rustom]

Also, only scientific theories are empirically testable. Meaning that only scientific theories can be refuted by empirical evidence.

And TCS is not a scientific theory, so it cannot be refuted by empirical evidence.

-- Rami Rustom
ramirustom.com

[anonymous]

TCS is not an empirical, scientific idea.

TCS is particularly about *learning* and *conflict solving*. How do you
refute applied epistemology? You can criticize the epistemology itself
or the connection between the epistemology and the claimed applications.

If the plan is to falsify TCS while avoiding philosophy, you can't win.