counterfactual
3
9.4
- adjective
- /ˌkaʊntərˈfæktʃuəl/
:
contrafactual
- When discussing history, she often presents counterfactual scenarios to explore what might have happened differently.
- counterfactual scenario
- counterfactual thinking
- counterfactual reasoning
That's why I buy crafted counterfactual thinking.
- That's why I buy crafted counterfactual thinking.
- First of all, you want to actively try and disengage from any attempt to engage in what's called counterfactual thinking.
- OK, so my counterfactual count is supposed to be like that.
- This is a real problem folks, because scientists are have to be willing to change their minds in the face of factual evidence or counterfactual evidence.
Examples
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For example, if landscape fires were completely eliminated worldwide, the global counterfactual value would be zero.
Academic text (2012) -
Anything is possible, but counterfactual analysis is not a license for fiction.
Academic text (2002) -
Where does one draw the line with counterfactual questions like this?
Blog text (15) -
In fact, I never had counterfactual thoughts about this incident.
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And under the counterfactual distribution, those have to be the same, right?
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Information markets allow policymakers to estimate key quantities in the counterfactual world in which their policy is not implemented.
Academic text (2005) -
In science fiction, one sometimes uses a counterfactual historical premise to construct the narrative world and the events that follow.
Academic text (2004) -
A well-stated theory is not disproved by an exception if there is a counterfactual condition that explains the exception.
Academic text (1990) -
The film's plot is based on a counterfactual premise, imagining a world where the Cold War never ended.
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He proposed a counterfactual analysis to demonstrate how policy changes could have led to different outcomes.
Synonyms
1
7.7
Describing an imagined situation that is not true
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Counterfactual comes from counter- meaning 'against', as in counterattack, and fact meaning 'a true thing'. So a counterfactual idea is one that goes 'against the facts' — a 'what if' about how events could have been different.