The conjecture-refutation model (CRM) says that a scientific theory T should be abandoned if

CRM1. T is inconsistent with facts determined by experiments conducted under laboratory-controlled conditions, or

CRM2. Predictions T made are inconsistent with facts determined by observations made by competent and impartial observers.

The “should” may sound as though CRM is merely a recommendation — that application to a specific scientific theory is at the discretion of the scientist who proposed T.  This is not the case.  An elementary rule of logic, modus tollens, applies.

The same rule says that the following are to be dropped:

CRM has application beyond the exacting contexts of science.  Thus, in economics, CRM says that a decision D to produce C should be abandoned if

CRM3. Predictions regarding basic economic variables such as consumer preferences and market conditions made by D with respect to C fail to materialize.

CRM3 explains what happened to Ford’s Edsel back in 1960.  It also explains what happened recently at elite automaker Mercedes-Benz (MB).  Breitbart reports:

It was just three years ago when the German luxury vehicle manufacturer announced that it would go “all-electric,” the Verge reported at the time.

The company said it would commit $47 billion to electrifying its fleet, with CEO and board chair Ola Källenius saying, “We are convinced, we can do it with strong profitability, and we believe that focus on electrical is the right way to build a successful future and to enhance the value of Mercedes Benz.”

Those plans were scrapped this week in the company’s fourth quarter earnings statement:

“Customers and market conditions will set the pace of the transformation. The company plans to be in a position to cater to different customer needs, whether it’s an all-electric drive-train or an electrified combustion engine, until well into the 2030s.”

The automobile giant went on to state that its electric vehicle sales are expected to only reach a maximum of 50 percent of the overall sales in the second half of this decade.

The business model change comes after multiple highly-publicized instances of Mercedes-Benz electric vehicles catching on fire and causing massive damage.

An EQB model caught ablaze while being charged in a car showroom in Malaysia on New Year’s Eve 2023, with video footage showing the terrifying moment a portion of the building went up in flames.

The fire destroyed “about 90 percent of the car, five percent of the showroom building structure, and 20 percent of the electric vehicle charging bay” the local fire and rescue operation commander told the Star.

Earlier in the year, a new Mercedes-Benz EQE350+ electric vehicle spontaneously caught fire while parked in a Nocatee, Florida home garage, causing an estimated $1 million in damage to the house.

The car wasn’t even charging when it caught fire, Breitbart News reported.

It is refreshing to see MB executives taking CRM3 seriously as a guiding principle of doing business, as did Ford in 1960.  On the other hand, I note that AGW proponents and their government sponsors have yet to recognize that CRM2 demolishes their views and have yet to start acting accordingly, as is normally done in science.  Yet they claim to be following “settled science”!

MB’s decision is bound to have a ripple effect on E.V. industry decisions worldwide in light of the prominent status the German automaker has enjoyed for decades, having weathered collaboration with the Nazis during WWII and involvement in the Holocaust.

[MB] cars became the first choice of many Nazi, Fascist Italian, and Japanese officials including Hermann Göring, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and Hirohito, who most notably used the Mercedes-Benz 770 luxury car. Daimler also produced parts for German arms, most notably barrels for Mauser Kar98k rifles. During World War II, Daimler-Benz had over 60,000 concentration camp prisoners and other forced laborers to build machinery. After the war, Daimler admitted to its links and coordination with the Nazi government.

Marxocrats pushing electric vehicles as part of their agenda to undermine (destroy?) capitalism will see the MB decision as a serious setback.  The issue is what they can do about it — that is, after waking from a heavy lunch of sausages and sauerkraut washed down with steins of Pilsner, followed by generous portions of apfelkrapfen for dessert.

Arnold Cusmariu, a frequent contributor to American Thinker, is the author of Logic for Kids.

Image via Picryl.