# Episode 132: Roughly Testable Theories (and Ancaps)

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-theory-of-anything-859886/episode-132-roughly-testable-theories-and-ancaps
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-theory-of-anything-859886/episode-132-roughly-testable-theories-and-ancaps.md
Podcast: [The Theory of Anything](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-theory-of-anything-859886)
Published: 2026-02-03T12:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/four-strands/episodes/Episode-132-Roughly-Testable-Theories-and-Ancaps-e3e3ved
Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/14b6fc10/podcast/play/114473869/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-0-24%2Ffa217e09-3eba-9053-df8b-0de24522f7f9.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-theory-of-anything-859886/episodes/episode-132-roughly-testable-theories-and-ancaps
Duration seconds: 3889

## Resource

This week, Bruce looks at how much critical rationalists do—and do not—subject their proposed best theories to critical testing. Bruce wrestles with how we apply the tools of critical rationalism—fallibilism, argument/debate, the demarcation criteria, falsification, and so on—to our real world ideas about economics, politics, and other issues. To do this, Bruce asks these question: Isn't economics famously difficult, or even impossible, to test? Does that mean it is a metaphysical theory? Doesn't Popper's famous demarcation criteria force us to accept that label? And what about Praxeology and Anarcho Capitalism? ⁠⁠⁠Support us on Patreon⁠⁠⁠

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## Transcript

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