Potentialpossible

Potentialpossible is a neologism used to describe a category of states or propositions that are simultaneously potential and possible within a given framework. The term is not widely standardized and appears primarily in speculative discussions rather than formal theories.

In modal logic, "possible" often refers to truth in some possible world; "potential" signals a capacity to become actual under certain conditions. Potentialpossible combines these to denote states that are not only permissible but also situated within a developmental path toward actualization. A formal reading might define a proposition P as potentialpossible in a model if there exists a lawful transition sequence from current state to a state in which P holds. For practical intuition, consider a city block that could be developed (potential) and is allowed by zoning rules (possible); the combination emphasizes that development is achievable via existing processes.

Applications include philosophy of science discussions about what could be empirically realized, AI planning under dynamic constraints, and futures studies analyzing trajectories that are not only feasible but also capable of being realized given process dynamics.

Critics argue that the term borrows from two distinct notions without clear formal standards, risking ambiguity. Proponents call for a precise model-theoretic or computational definition to avoid vagueness.

Origin and adoption of the term are uncertain, with instances appearing in late 2010s to early 2020s discourse, often in blogs, essays, or speculative papers. It remains outside mainstream formal logic and established metaphysics, serving mainly as a conceptual prompt for discussions about how feasibility and developability interact in complex systems.