A field guide to the ways reasoning breaks
Distraction and distortion
Also called Untestable claim
Framing a claim so that no possible observation could count against it.
The force is undetectable by any instrument, but it is real.
Ask what observation would change their mind. If nothing would, the claim is not empirical.
The term belongs to Karl Popper, who made falsifiability his criterion of science in 'The Logic of Scientific Discovery' (1934). A claim no observation could count against is, on his account, not even wrong — it is untestable by construction.
A guru's meditation technique reduces anxiety — and when a trial shows no effect, that proves the participants weren't meditating properly.
A theorist insists a secret cabal runs the market; every piece of contrary evidence just shows how thoroughly the cabal covers its tracks.
A manager claims her leadership raised team morale; the anonymous survey showing otherwise only proves the team can't recognize good leadership yet.
A fortune-teller's predictions are always right: if the event didn't happen, the stars' warning must have helped you avoid it.