this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2025
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xkcd

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[–] AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works 9 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

The series is named 'What If', not 'How Could'.

hypothetical
/hʌɪpəˈθɛtɪk(ə)l/
adjective: hypothetical
    based on or serving as a hypothesis.
    "let us take a hypothetical case"

    supposed but not necessarily real or true.
    "the hypothetical tenth planet"
    
    Similar:
    theoretical
    speculative
    conjectured
    imagined
    notional
    suppositional
    supposed
    assumed
    presumed
    putative
    made up
    unreal
    academic

    Opposite:
    real
    actual
    Logic denoting or containing a proposition of the logical form if p then q.

noun
noun: hypothetical; plural noun: hypotheticals

    a hypothetical proposition or statement.
    "officials refuse to discuss military policy except in coy hypotheticals"