Thought experiment

Schrödinger's cat (1935) presents a cat that is in a superposition of alive and dead states, depending on a random quantum event. It illustrates the counter-intuitive implications of Bohr's Copenhagen interpretation when applied to everyday objects.[1]

A thought experiment is a hypothetical situation in which a hypothesis, theory,[a] or principle is laid out for the purpose of thinking through its consequences. The concept is also referred to using the German-language term Gedankenexperiment within the work of the physicist Ernst Mach[2] and includes thoughts about what may have occurred if a different course of action were taken.[3][4] The importance of this ability is that it allows the experimenter to imagine what may occur in the future, as well as the implications of alternate courses of action.[5][6]

  1. ^ Bild, Marius; Fadel, Matteo; Yang, Yu; et al. (20 April 2023). "Schrödinger cat states of a 16-microgram mechanical oscillator". Science. 380 (6642): 274–278. arXiv:2211.00449. Bibcode:2023Sci...380..274B. doi:10.1126/science.adf7553. PMID 37079693.
  2. ^ Miyamoto, Kentaro; Rushworth, Matthew F.S.; Shea, Nicholas (1 May 2023). "Imagining the future self through thought experiments". Trends in Cognitive Sciences. 27 (5): 446–455. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2023.01.005. ISSN 1364-6613. PMID 36801162.
  3. ^ Gendler, Tamar Szabó (1 January 2022). "Thought Experiments Rethought—and Reperceived". Philosophy of Science. 71 (5): 1152–1163. doi:10.1086/425239. ISSN 0031-8248. S2CID 144114290.
  4. ^ Grush, Rick (1 June 2004). "The emulation theory of representation: Motor control, imagery, and perception". Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 2 7 (3): 377–396. doi:10.1017/S0140525X04000093. ISSN 0140-525X. PMID 15736871. S2CID 514252.
  5. ^ Aronowitz, S., & Lombrozo, T. (2020). Learning through simulation. Philosophers' Imprint, 20(1), 1-18.
  6. ^ Bourget, David; Chalmers, David J. (25 July 2023). "Philosophers on Philosophy: The 2020 PhilPapers Survey". Philosophers' Imprint. 23 (1). doi:10.3998/phimp.2109. ISSN 1533-628X.


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