just-so stories

Noun

just-so story (plural just-so stories)

1. A story which supposedly explains the beginning or early development of a current state of affairs; a myth, a pourquoi story.
2. A story, especially one for children, featuring animals as characters.
3. (derogatory, especially) An untestable explanation for something, such as a form of behaviour, a biological trait, or a cultural practice.
   • Sociobiological explanations of human behaviour encounter two special difficulties, suggesting that a Darwinian model may be generally inapplicable in this case. […] Secondly, the standard foundation of Darwinian just-so stories does not apply to humans. That foundation is the implication: if...1978 November 16, Stephen Jay Gould, “Sociobiology: The Art of Storytelling”, in Bernard Dixon, editor, New Scientist, volume 80, number 1129, London: IPC Magazines, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 532