Jack-of-All-Trades Logic
Updated 2026-08-10
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
A fallacy in which a single explanation is applied indiscriminately to every phenomenon in a domain. Its core proposition is that explanatory power and predictive power trade off: a claim adjusted to fit every possible observation excludes none of them, so it carries no information and cannot be tested. The qualifier is that the problem is not vagueness alone but unfalsifiability, and the remedy is to demand a concrete prediction that would count as the claim being wrong.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Falsification probe: ask what observation would prove this explanation wrong if it occurred. - Prediction demand: require the claim to state a specific outcome in advance rather than after the fact. - Boundary setting: name the cases the explanation does not cover, if any exist.
Anchor fast decisions
An explanation that absorbs every result cannot be distinguished from its rivals, because no evidence can favor one over the other. Discriminating power comes from ruling things out, so each added caveat that rescues the claim from a counterexample removes information rather than adding it, and the account drifts toward unfalsifiable generality.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_of_all_tradesverified
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