hypothetically speaking

We live in hypotheticals. I mean our thinking is inextricably bound up with hypotheticals.

The future is hypothetical. We expect that it will come because we are used to this kind of regularity. On a more basic level, we are constantly preoccupied with imagining the consequences of our actions. Furthermore, the only way to have an opinion or belief about something is to imagine the thoughts and feelings we will have when confronted with the object of our opinion. I dislike the color red. I imagine that if I were to see the color red I would have a negative reaction.

This is all very hypothetical.

Similarly, hypothetical situations are just imagined situations. Many situtations in which people find themselves were hypothetical before ever being actual. That is to say we often imagine situations and then make them happen. We may either cause situations to happen or merely anticipate them.