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Psycholinguistics Syntax Philosophy Science

The “If” That Changes Everything: How Counterfactuals and the Subjunctive Mood Built Science

Estimated read time 5 min read

What if the ability to say “if” was a prerequisite for science itself? This post explores how counterfactuals and the subjunctive mood—the grammar of hypothetical worlds—provided the cognitive toolkit necessary for the Scientific Revolution. It argues that the language of “what if” is the very foundation of hypothesis testing, thought experiments, and modern knowledge.