counterfactuals
Imagined alternative outcomes
Counterfactuals are statements about what would have happened if circumstances had been different: If I had left earlier, I would have caught the train.
They imagine alternatives to actual events and explore their consequences.
Philosophers and scientists use counterfactual reasoning to analyze causation—asking whether an outcome would have occurred without a particular factor.
In casual use, counterfactuals often express regret or speculation about missed opportunities.
Production of effects
- necessityIndispensable requirement
- contingencyUncertain possible event
- subjunctiveVerb mood expressing unreality
- thought experimentsHypothetical scenarios for reasoning
metaphysics · epistemology · determinism · free will · Leibniz · conditionals · antecedent · consequent
Hypothetical scenario query
- hypotheticalAssumed but unproven
- scenarioPostulated event sequence
- conjectureGuess from limited facts
- suppositionBelief without proof
assumption · inference · thought experiment · mental simulation · imagination · alternative · possibility · speculation
Genre reimagining past outcomes
- turning pointDecisive moment of change
- what ifWords introducing a hypothesis
- butterfly effectSmall inputs, disproportionate results
- divergenceSeparation from common origin
timeline · revisionism · historiography · antecedents · preconditions · causation · consequence · retrospective
Untreated subjects for comparison
- experimental designStructured plan for research
- baselineStandard for comparison
- interventionPurposeful involvement to change course
- PearlGemstone-inspired feminine name
confounding · selection bias · matching · randomization · attribution · epidemiology
causation
Production of effects
- necessityIndispensable requirement
- contingencyUncertain possible event
- subjunctiveVerb mood expressing unreality
thought experiments · metaphysics · epistemology · determinism · free will · Leibniz · conditionals · antecedent · consequent · backtracking
what-if
Hypothetical scenario query
- hypotheticalAssumed but unproven
- scenarioPostulated event sequence
- conjectureGuess from limited facts
supposition · assumption · inference · thought experiment · mental simulation · imagination · alternative · possibility · speculation · projection
alternate history
Genre reimagining past outcomes
- turning pointDecisive moment of change
- what ifWords introducing a hypothesis
- butterfly effectSmall inputs, disproportionate results
divergence · timeline · revisionism · historiography · antecedents · preconditions · causation · consequence · retrospective · contingency
control group
Untreated subjects for comparison
- experimental designStructured plan for research
- baselineStandard for comparison
- interventionPurposeful involvement to change course
Pearl · confounding · selection bias · matching · randomization · attribution · epidemiology
- metaphysicsessence, being, reality, existence, substance theory
- causationcause, effect, because, causality, causation
- conditionalsif, then, if clause, if clauses, else
- philosophy questionsthought experiments, hypotheticals, trolley problem, ship of Theseus, philosophical questions
- imaginary thingsfantasies, imaginary friends, imaginary worlds, make-believe, make believe
- imaginationimagination, daydreaming, daydreams, fantasies, fantasy
counterfactualsfacts
Verifiable pieces of truth
actualities · realities · historical facts · truths · data