(1) a ij = N i N j = N i N k * N k N j = a ik * a kj This last property is called the transitivity property and reflects the idea that if "i" was considered twice as important as j (Ni= aij * Nj), and "j" was considered three times more important than "k" (Nj= ajk * Nk), then "i" should be judged six times (two times three) more important than "k" (Ni = aik * Nk, with aik=aij* ajk).
"If I was considered only an Arab, my chances would have been worse; so I tried to play down that part of my identity because of its implications," Shadid said.
"But stepping back from that, if I were considering you from a Google perspective?
Got voice mail from Mom this morning asking if I'm considering going back for teaching degree.
This may be unreasonable, but if I'm considering spending four figures on a wardrobe item — and that is an enormous "if" — I want a bracingly candid-style consultation to be included in the price.
It's not something that I've had personal experience with, but I think that if I were considering a relationship with someone in an open marriage, I'd ask to meet the person's other partner before it got too serious, just to double check that everything is really OK (as any digital dater knows, it's very easy to fake things online).
If I were considering my options, this might be mildly useful — it might be, as happiness experts like Daniel Gilbert and Gretchen Rubin say, that we do not always know what will make us happy, which makes it more useful to know what has affected the happiness of others.
"If I were considering starting a startup, I know I'd be very encouraged by hearing how other women did it," she said.
Descartes starts his Passions of the Soul (1649) by lamenting the sorry state of ancient writings on the passions, and declaring that "I shall be obliged to write just as if I were considering a topic that no one had dealt with before me" (AT XI 328, CSM I 328).
