Possibilities

Possibilities refer to the set of states of affairs that could be true under certain conditions. In everyday language, considering a possibility means imagining that something might happen or be the case.

In philosophy and logic, modality studies what is possible, necessary, or impossible. A proposition is possible if it could be true in some logically coherent scenario. Distinctions include logical possibility (no contradiction), physical or nomological possibility (consistent with the laws of nature), metaphysical possibility (not contradicted by the nature of things), and epistemic possibility (not ruled out given current knowledge).

In probability, possibilities form the outcomes in a sample space; probabilities assign likelihoods to these outcomes. For example, a fair die has six possible outcomes, each with probability 1/6. Possibilities are not equally likely, and they can be constrained by information or theory.

Practically, people use the concept to plan and imagine futures through brainstorming, scenario planning, or risk assessment. In science, possibilities frame hypotheses and experiments; in physics, quantum mechanics treats certain outcomes as possibilities until measured. Philosophically, discussions of possibility relate to questions about free will, contingency, and the nature of truth.