whatif

What if is a question or device used to explore what would happen if circumstances were different. It is a form of hypothetical reasoning that asks about alternate outcomes or pathways. In rhetoric, it takes the form of a conditional inquiry, often beginning with what if or if... would.... In philosophy and cognitive science, it is linked to counterfactual thinking—the mental simulation of alternative realities used to understand cause and effect, evaluate decisions, and learn from past events.

Applications of what-if thinking span many fields. In business, what-if analysis examines how changes in variables such as price, demand, or costs would affect outcomes like profit or risk. In forecasting and planning, scenario planning and sensitivity analysis rely on what-if questions to test robustness and guide strategy. In science and engineering, it is used to model hypothetical conditions, test hypotheses, and explore theoretical limits. In education, what-if prompts stimulate critical thinking and problem solving.

In culture, what-if questions are central to speculative fiction and alternate history, enabling stories that diverge from known timelines. The phrase appears in education, journalism, and entertainment as a framing device or title. In popular media, What If...?, a Marvel Studios series, presents stand-alone episodes that reimagine key events in the Marvel Cinematic Universe through alternate outcomes.

Caution is warranted with what-if thinking. Overreliance on speculative scenarios can mislead if probabilities are unknown or misestimated, so what-if analysis should be grounded in evidence and probabilistic reasoning.