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My tendency is to say "Well, but that didn't happen, so discussing it isn't fruitful." But counterfactuals seem to be part of our reasoning processes ("If i ha
by giardini 9y ago
My tendency is to say "Well, but that didn't happen, so discussing it isn't fruitful."
But counterfactuals seem to be part of our reasoning processes ("If i had turned left at the last light I would be closer to the restaurant.") and they do often capture the imagination (alternative histories, etc.):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counterfactual_conditional https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counterfactual_conditional
- drieddust 9y agoI don't think your argument makes sense given the question.
- antisthenes 9y agoThat tendency is valid when you're plotting your own future strategy, because you can't go back in time. However when you're looking at society in aggregate, you have to consider what will happen, so the conversation is still useful when planning for the future (since people will be at different points in their lives) of the group as a whole.