# Episode 138: "Popperian" vs "Deutschian" Epistemology

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-theory-of-anything-859886/episode-138-popperian-vs-deutschian-epistemology
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-theory-of-anything-859886/episode-138-popperian-vs-deutschian-epistemology.md
Podcast: [The Theory of Anything](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-theory-of-anything-859886)
Published: 2026-04-29T11:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/four-strands/episodes/Episode-138-Popperian-vs-Deutschian-Epistemology-e3i728q
Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/14b6fc10/podcast/play/118769370/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-3-21%2Ffa737018-910b-a840-c209-9fccb307d487.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-theory-of-anything-859886/episodes/episode-138-popperian-vs-deutschian-epistemology
Duration seconds: 6898

## Resource

Bruce has made a controversial claim on this show: today's "CritRats" (Critical Rationalists on X) have drifted from what Popper intended. And surprisingly, some of the drift traces back to David Deutsch's reinterpretation of Popper in an attempt to solve real problems with Popper's original epistemology. In this episode, Bruce unpacks exactly how — tracing the key points where Deutsch and Popper diverge: verisimilitude, demarcation, testability vs. criticism, and what "refutation" actually meant to Popper (hint: not what you think). A sympathetic but rigorous look at where "Deutschianism" improves on "Popperianism" and where it quietly smuggles in new problems. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Support us on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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## Transcript

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