Karl Popper on Evolution as Science
An interesting quote by Karl Popper on evolution and science:
I now wish to give some reasons why I regard Darwinism as metaphysical, and as a research programme. It is metaphysical because it is not testable. Karl Popper, Unended Quest (1992) pp.198-199
Popper is wrong, of course, but wrong in the same way that all the people are wrong who say that theistic evolution is not scientific, or that any explanation is bad if it is not testable.
January 13th, 2006 at 3:49 pm
No, Popper was wrong there because he didn’t understand evolution, which does rest on several falsifiable claims. His friend Peter Medawar later set him straight. Which brings us to this later quote:
“I have changed my mind about the testability and logical status of the theory of natural selection; and I am glad to have an opportunity to make a recantation…” (Dialectica 32:344-346).