The factual is that which is based on facts.
The adjective factual , coming from the Latin word factum , refers to that which is linked to facts . The term is usually used to describe what depends on or is based on facts , unlike what happens with what is theoretical.
Before moving forward, it is important to mention that a fact is a thing that happens : that is, it materializes and has existence in reality. The factual, in this framework, is based on this type of events.
The factual fact
We speak of a factual fact with reference to the demonstrable or verifiable event . A factual fact is objective and, at that point, cannot be doubted. In everyday speech we are not always attentive to these nuances, since informal conversations are not governed by exact structures, but in certain areas we cannot confuse the factual with the supposed.
Let's look at a practical example: if five private consulting firms and a state agency dedicated to the production of statistics agree that unemployment has increased in a country, and demonstrate this through data from various reports and investigations, it can be said that the increase in Unemployment (or unemployment) is a fact : it cannot be questioned. The causes that led to this situation, however, can be debated or discussed.
This shows us two things: that opinion has no place in the realm of factual facts; that a factual fact can be formed by a complex structure. Regarding the first, it is not easy to find facts that are impossible to question, since even science evolves and contradicts itself. If we look at the history of medicine, for example, we will find statements that lost their validity as new discoveries arose: in other words, a medical diagnosis, which many scientists arrive at through factual tests, can be wrong in the future.
With respect to the complexity of the factual fact, let's return to the example of the unemployment rate: we are dealing with an objective value , but behind it others of a subjective nature may hide. The causes of a social and economic phenomenon are not as easy to determine as the characteristics of the phenomenon itself. And the same applies to other aspects related to it, such as the feelings of the people represented by that percentage, the consequences that unemployment has on their personal lives, etc.
A hidden power
Factual power , meanwhile, is the sector that influences the measures and actions of political institutions , and that even conditions them, but without being part of them . The de facto power, in this way, is not found in the State , although it participates in its decisions thanks to its capacity for pressure or its informal authority.
It is often said that the bank is the de facto power of a country.
It is common for banks to be considered as part of the de facto power of a country. Top bankers can force the government to act in certain ways economically through various actions and even public statements.
Regarding its use, the plural is generally preferred: "powers that be." This happens because more than one sector is usually mentioned, such as capitalists, the army and the Church . This term can also symbolize less defined concepts, such as "the interests of one country" that exerts pressure on another. The mass media, on the other hand, also usually fall into this name, since they have undeniable power over the course of a country.