black box vs proposition

black box

noun
  • A theoretical construct or device with known input and output characteristics but unknown method of operation. 

  • A flight recorder; the brightly colored cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders in an aircraft designed to aid in determining the cause of an accident. 

  • A device used in phreaking that prevents the calling party from being billed for the call placed. 

  • A type of theater characterized by a lack of decoration or complex mechanisms. 

  • Any similar device on motor vehicles, such as rail event recorders and ship trip recorders. 

verb
  • To focus on the inputs and outputs without worrying about the internal complexity. 

proposition

noun
  • The content of an assertion that may be taken as being true or false and is considered abstractly without reference to the linguistic sentence that constitutes the assertion; (Aristotelian logic) a predicate of a subject that is denied or affirmed and connected by a copula. 

  • An assertion so formulated that it can be considered true or false. 

  • A statement of religious doctrine; an article of faith; creed. 

  • In some states, a proposed statute or constitutional amendment to be voted on by the electorate. 

  • The terms of a transaction offered. 

  • An assertion which is provably true, but not important enough to be called a theorem. 

  • The act of offering (an idea) for consideration. 

  • An idea or a plan offered. 

  • A complete sentence. 

  • The part of a poem in which the author states the subject or matter of it. 

verb
  • To make an offer or suggestion to (someone). 

  • To make a suggestion of sexual intercourse to (someone with whom one is not sexually involved). 

How often have the words black box and proposition occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )