Counterfactual test
The validation check applied to a candidate root cause: would the failure, as actually observed, still have occurred if this specific condition had been absent, and does correcting this condition close the gap completely rather than merely reducing the odds. A candidate that fails either half of the test is a contributing factor, not a validated root cause.
Defined in 2 GAGE programs, which carry 2 distinct definitions of it. The wording above is taught in Engineering Judgment and Professional Formation.
How each discipline defines it
The same term does different work depending on who is using it. These are the definitions as each program teaches them, unedited.
The validation check applied to a candidate root cause: would the failure, as actually observed, still have occurred if this specific condition had been absent, and does correcting this condition close the gap completely rather than merely reducing the odds. A candidate that fails either half of the test is a contributing factor, not a validated root cause.
The fastest single attack in this topic. For any claim and its evidence, ask what the evidence would look like if the claim were false. If the honest answer is "the same," the evidence is non-diagnostic and the claim is unsupported. The test can be run on a printed file without executing any system.
Where it is taught
The exact lessons this term appears in. The first 7 topics of every program are free with a free account.
- Attacking to learn: you red-team a governance file and discover how thin most are · Adversarial Governance, AI Governance: Applied Mastery
Terms it appears with
Not an alphabetical neighbourhood: these are the terms taught in the same lessons, ranked by how often they appear together.