Conceptual Integration in Counterfactuals

Conceptual integration - "blending" - is a general cognitive operation used to construct meaning. It is dynamic, supple, and active in the moment of thinking. It interacts with other general cognitive operations. It yields products that frequently become entrenched in conceptual structure and grammar. It often performs new blending on its entrenched products. It is easy to detect in spectacular cases but it is for the most part a routine, workaday process that escapes detection except on technical analysis. It is not reserved for special purposes, and is not especially costly. In this article, we demonstrate those principles at work in counterfactuals