Modal Thought

Introduction

Thought about possibilities—modal thought—is central to our lives.

Background

In prior work I argued for a single unified representation of possibility (Phillips & Knobe, 2018).

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Exploring possibilities

Here’s an example of how the quality of possible actions change as more are generated.

Visualizing possibilities

Each action participants generated can be placed in a three-dimensional space defined by its rated probability, morality, and normality. Points are colored by generation number — whether the action was the first, second, third, fourth, or fifth option the participant thought of.

References