7 - Counterfactual Conditionals

Summary

If Xena Warrior Princess went head to head with Wonder Woman, who would win?

Each week the weblords at www.electricferret.com post in-depth discussions of issues just like this. They call their on-line magazine Comic Book Universe Battles and post a weekly play-by-play account of a battle between two fictional characters. For example, besides the wrestling match between Wonder Woman and Xena, other noteworthy battles have included Count Dracula versus Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the aliens (from Alien, Aliens, and Alien 3) versus the Borg of Star Trek fame. While the topics inevitably involve imaginary characters in scenarios bizarre even from the standpoint of fiction, the debates can be quite spirited. Take, for example, the following excerpt from a discussion about a competition between cartoon sleuth Scooby Doo and the X-Files' FBI agents Mulder and Scully to uncover the cause of some mysterious deaths at an amusement park.

Brian: [suppose] the mysterious occurrences at the amusement park are due to some paranormal, super-human, extra-terrestrial, and/or mystic force or entity. If that's the case, Scooby, et al., are completely out of their league. They can't handle real ghosts: Scoob and Shaggy would run, Daphne scream and ask Fred to hold her close Mulder & Scully, however, are old hat at stuff like this. …

Steve: Your whole premise … is totally ridiculous. It's not an issue of whether the monsters are paranormal or not; it's an issue of what the Scooby-Doo gang thinks they are. … In fact, Scooby and Shaggy always inadvertently capture the baddies with the full belief that they are genuine monsters!