According to Karl Popper, widely regarded as one of the greatest philosophers of science in
the 20th century, falsifiability is the primary characteristic that distinguishes scientific
theories from ideologies – or dogma. For example, for people who argue that schools
should treat creationism as a scientific theory, comparable to modern theories of evolution,
advocates of creationism would need to become engaged in the generation of falsifiable
hypothesis, and would need to abandon the practice of discouraging questioning and
inquiry. Ironically, scientific theories themselves are accepted or rejected based on a
principle that might be called survival of the fittest. So, for healthy theories on
development to occur, four Darwinian functions should function: (a) variation – avoid
orthodoxy and encourage divergent thinking, (b) selection – submit all assumptions and
innovations to rigorous testing, (c) diffusion – encourage the shareability of new and/or
viable ways of thinking, and (d) accumulation – encourage the reuseability of viable
aspects of productive innovations
