Ontological commitment

Ontological commitment is a big fancy term used by grown-ups to describe the things that they believe exist in the world around them. It's kind of like how you believe that your toys are real and exist, but you don't necessarily think that unicorns are real.

When people make claims about what exists, they are making an ontological commitment. For example, if someone says "ghosts exist", they are making an ontological commitment to the existence of ghosts.

Sometimes different people have different ontological commitments. For example, some people believe that fairies and mermaids are real, while others do not.

Ontological commitment can also be important in fields like philosophy and science. Scientists make ontological commitments about the existence of things like atoms and electrons, while philosophers might make ontological commitments about concepts like free will or the nature of reality.

So basically, ontological commitment is just a fancy way of talking about what we believe exists in the world. It's like making a bet with someone about whether or not something is real - you're committing to a certain belief about what exists and what doesn't exist.