Which one of the following statements can be false?

Garmai June 16, 2022

Necessarily True vs. Could be True

What is the difference between these two claims? Don’t they both indicate that something can be false?

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jakennedy June 18, 2022

Hi @Garmai,

Great question.

They are very similar but not exactly the same.

Anything that isn’t FALSE 100% of the time could be true.

Anything that isn’t TRUE 100% of the time is not necessarily true.

So in the vast majority of cases, they overlap. However, if something is true 100% of the time, it qualifies as could be true, but it IS necessarily true.

On the other hand, if something is false 100% of the time, it qualifies as not necessarily true, but not as a could be true.

Anything between those two extremes both could be true and is not necessarily true.

Hope this helps!