“Counterfactual” is an arcane term in our vocabulary, sometimes even for someone with higher education. It is the language of science, understood and used by scientists. If we are not scientists, why do we even need to bother about counterfactuals? In the simplest possible terms, counterfactuals tell us what could have happened but did not. More specifically, it is about what could have happened in the absence of a phenomenon. For example, a counterfactual question would be to ask what would have been the unemployment rate in Bangladesh in July 2020 had Covid-19 not happened. On the surface, it seems to be an inconsequential question, almost silly. Why should we care about something that could have happened when it did not happen in the first place?
“Counterfactual” is an arcane term in our vocabulary, sometimes even for someone with higher education. It is the language of science, understood and used by scientists. If we are not scientists, why do we even need to bother about counterfactuals? In the simplest possible terms, counterfactuals tell us what could have happened but did not. More specifically, it is about what could have happened in the absence of a phenomenon. For example, a counterfactual question would be to ask what would have been the unemployment rate in Bangladesh in July 2020 had Covid-19 not happened. On the surface, it seems to be an inconsequential question, almost silly. Why should we care about something that could have happened when it did not happen in the first place?
