Conflicting

Conflicting is an adjective describing two or more elements that are in opposition, incompatible, or mutually exclusive, such that they cannot all be true or occur simultaneously. The term is applied to ideas, statements, data, or requirements that oppose one another or generate contradiction when considered together.

Etymology and usage: from conflict, Latin confligere meaning to strike together, via Middle English. Historically used to describe physical combat but extended to abstract disagreements and inconsistencies in information or claims.

In everyday language, people refer to conflicting accounts of an incident, conflicting priorities, or conflicting information. In journalism and research, conflicting reports and findings indicate that evidence is not concordant and may require further investigation.

In science and law, conflicting data can challenge conclusions, and conflicting witness statements can affect legal outcomes. In data management and information systems, conflicting data from different sources may prompt data reconciliation, deduplication, or cleansing to restore coherence.

In logic and computer science, a set of propositions is conflicting or inconsistent if they cannot all be true at once, which is a fundamental obstacle for deductive reasoning. In version control, conflicts arise when separate edits cannot be automatically merged and require manual resolution.

Resolution typically involves identification of the sources, assessment of priority or reliability, and application of adjudication, negotiation, or algorithmic reconciliation to produce a coherent, non-contradictory outcome.

See also: conflict, disagreement, contradiction, inconsistency, dispute resolution.