#epistemology #rationality # [[Epistemic status]] #shower-thought # Related > [!NOTE]- Related >[[Chiara Marletto]] >https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54837100 >[[Judea Pearl]] >[[Judea Pearl - Causality_ Models, Reasoning, and Inference-Cambridge University Press]] # Counterfactual ![[DALL·E 2022-06-19 14.07.12 - The paradoxal doublethinking happening within man mind, surrealist, by Escher.png]] Bob ate an apple and when to bed. Counterfactual: what if Bob got crushed by a truck on the way to bed? ![[IMG_20220811_072136.jpg]] ## [[Philosophy/Epistemology/Knowledge|Knowledge]] as a physical property >Information and knowledge, for example, have been traditionally considered as mere abstractions—as things that do not belong to the physical world. However, by considering the counterfactual properties of physical systems that enable information and knowledge, one refutes this idea: because whether or not a physical system has those properties is set precisely by the laws of physics. >~ [[Chiara Marletto]] >The other fact is that embracing counterfactuals allows one to express exact laws about entities traditionally considered as approximate (because these laws refer directly to the macroscopic world), such as information, energy, heat, and work. >~ [[Chiara Marletto]] >As I have explained time and again, the traditional conception of physics cannot express **counterfactual** properties. The traditional conception can refer to the state of the switch—either ON or OFF—at any given time, and can predict what the state will be at a later time, and why. However, a statement of this kind does not tell us anything about **what transformations are possible or impossible** on the switch. >~ [[Chiara Marletto]] # External links