Term, definition, origin

A list of terms I use, their origins, and variants on those terms.

While I'll be the first to say that no dictionary definition of a word/phrase can accurately capture its meaning, as this meaning is derived from the totality of all of its uses,

• these definitions are meant to capture the way in which I use these words,
• given that they're my words, and as far as I can tell not used by others, my use of them is the canonical use of them (this may change if I somehow become more popular),
• even if both of those were false, formal definitions tend to serve as Schelling points for the general uses of words, making them useful to give anyway.

Key:

• [P] denotes [P]re-existing terms that I use pre-existing meanings for, which meanings seem obscure, unclear, or useful enough that it's worth explaining what I mean when I use them.
• [R] denotes pre-existing terms that I [R]epurpose, using in my own sense.
• [O] denotes [O]riginal terms that I have created out of existing words.
• [OO] denotes words that don't even exist in dictionaries, because I have created them.

At a glance:

Analogical Trait [O]

Definition: A trait which is defined by analogy to a set of commonly accepted exemplars.

Example: One justifies calling something "fascist" by comparing that thing to a small set of commonly accepted examples of fascism (Hitler, Franco, Mussolini).

Origin: My essay Analogical Traits and Campbell's Law.

Aprioristic Methodology [O]

Definition: The study of scientific schemata according to which understandings of particular phenomena are made legible to science.

Example of such a schema: Evolution, in the general sense. Example of aprioristic examination of the schema: When is it possible to conceive of any system, biological or not, as undergoing something akin to biological evolution? Is lossy reproduction contingent on quality enough? What phenomena may systems like this exhibit (canalization, facilitated variation, genetics and genetic drift, etc.), and how can we find or reject their presence?

Origin: My essay Metacognitive Science.

Cognitive Temperature [O]

Definition: A particular character of cognition which is "directed, deliberative, and self-aware"; it is particularly useful in the conscious identification and solution of problems.

Origin: My essay Cognitive Temperature, Short Edition.

Counterfactuality, Ceteris Paribus [O]

Definition: Counterfactual thought is ceteris paribus (CE) when the counterfactual world is implicitly taken to be as close to our world as possible.

Origin: My essay Two Poles of Counterfactual Thought.

Counterfactuality, Most Likely Explanation [O]

Definition: Counterfactual thought is most-likely-explanation (MLE) when the counterfactual world is implicitly taken to be such that the counterfactual desideratum happens most naturally in that world.

Origin: My essay Two Poles of Counterfactual Thought.

Deep Phenomenology [O]