percentainty

Percentainty is a neologism that combines the words "percent" and "certainty." It is used to express a degree of confidence or probability in a quantitative manner. While not a formal mathematical term, it has emerged in informal contexts, particularly in discussions related to risk assessment, forecasting, and personal conviction. The concept aims to bridge the gap between absolute certainty and probabilistic estimations, offering a numerical value that reflects how sure someone or something is about an outcome.

For example, someone might express "95 percentainty" that a particular event will occur, indicating a very high level of confidence. Conversely, a lower percentainty, such as 30 percentainty, would suggest a significant amount of doubt or uncertainty. The term can be applied subjectively to personal beliefs or objectively to statistical predictions. It allows for a more nuanced expression of confidence than simple "yes" or "no" or vague terms like "likely" or "unlikely." However, it's important to note that percentainty does not inherently imply the basis for that confidence, which could be empirical data, expert opinion, or intuition.