I'm thinking about how the mind works, and how the mind dreams or simulates events. This seems to be an important part of how the brain works so it seems like we should have special words to describe these thoughts.
- Could (imagined different available possibilities)
- Would (imagined most likely possibility given a situation)
- Should (imagined a better possibility for some criteria)
e.g. "I could've gone to the park today.", "I would've won the race if my legs were longer.", "I should've chosen the strawberry icecream."
I wondered if there are any more words like this? Which would give us an insight into how imagination works. For example, we might imagine a chess computer thinking of possible moves it could do, imagining what an oponent would do, and then if it lost thinking about what it should have done.
I can think of one more. That is "might". But I'm not sure how this fits in. For example, "If I annoy a kangaroo it might punch me." But then again, a kangaroo could punch me even if I don't annoy it. It seems like it's the same as "could" but just with a higher probability. Then again this might be to do with truth. As in "It might've happened" seems different to "It could've happened".
- Might've (imagined a possible past event that is consistent with current knowledge of the present)
- Might (same as "could?" for future events?)