The Non-saying of What Should Have Been Said

What Should I Believe About What Would Have Been the Case?

The question I am addressing in this paper is the following: how is it possible to empirically test, or confirm, counterfactuals? After motivating this question in section 1, I will look at two approaches to counterfactuals, and at how counterfactuals can be empirically tested, or confirmed, if at all, on these accounts in section 2. I will then digress into the philosophy of probability in sec...

The 'What Could Have Been' Photo

The goal of the project is to create new scenarios in a supplied photo by replacing some of its elements with elements from other photos. This could be used to repair imperfectly taken photos (photo with shadow due to camera lens that was partially covered by finger), to remove elements that spoil the imagery of a picture (a garbage can in the middle of a rose garden), or to create an image wit...

Been: Long-Lived Plasma Cells Induced by T What Is and What Should Always Have

From what might have been to what must have been: counterfactual thinking creates meaning.

Four experiments explored whether 2 uniquely human characteristics-counterfactual thinking (imagining alternatives to the past) and the fundamental drive to create meaning in life-are causally related. Rather than implying a random quality to life, the authors hypothesized and found that counterfactual thinking heightens the meaningfulness of key life experiences. Reflecting on alternative path...

Developing Thoughts About What Might Have Been

Recent research has changed how developmental psychologists understand counterfactual thinking or thoughts of what might have been. Evidence suggests that counterfactual thinking develops over an extended period into at least middle childhood, depends on domain-general processes including executive function and language, and dissociates from counterfactual emotions such as regret. In this artic...