Predictability is when you can know what will happen next, just by knowing what happened before.
Imagine you have a favorite toy box. Every day after school, you put your toys in the box, and every day, your mom takes them out to clean them. You know this happens because it always goes the same way. That’s predictability, when things happen in a pattern you can count on.
Like a Clock
Think of a clock. It ticks tick... tock... tick... tock. You don’t need to look at the time to know what comes next, you just know it’s going to go tick again. That’s predictability too! The clock doesn’t change its pattern, so you can predict what will happen.
When Things Change
Sometimes things are not predictable. Like when your dad brings a new toy on Saturday instead of cleaning the old ones. Then you don’t know what comes next, that's unpredictable!
So predictability is like knowing what’s going to happen before it happens, just like knowing your clock will tick and tock, or your mom will clean your toys every day.
Examples
- A weather forecast telling you it will rain tomorrow
- A clock that ticks at the same time every day
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See also
- Why is predictability important?
- What are deviations from expected norms?
- What are coating pasta with hydrophobic polymers?
- How Does Sock It to Me Work?
- What are processes?