Just-so story
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A just-so story is a term used in academic anthropology, biological sciences, and social sciences for a narrative explanation for a cultural practice or a biological trait or behavior of humans or animals which is unverifiable and unfalsifiable. The use of the term is an implicit criticism that reminds the hearer of the essentially fictional and unprovable nature of such an explanation.
For example, many of the claims of evolutionary psychology that certain human traits were naturally selected for because of the environment humans lived in thousands of years ago are criticized as modern just-so stories.
It is also used as a reference to the Just So Stories of Rudyard Kipling, which are fictional and deliberately fanciful explanations for children of animal characteristics such as the spots of a leopard (e.g., How the Leopard Got His Spots).
See also
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