thought experiment
noun
: gedankenexperiment
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Another exemplar of the straight-forward premise-turned-thought experiment: a crew of people must deliver a nuclear bomb to the sun in order to keep it from burning out. 
Josh St. Clair, Men's Health, 18 Aug. 2022 This week’s Washington corollary to the tree-in-the-forest thought experiment: If the Jan. 6 committee holds professionally polished hearings, amid wall-to-wall prime-time coverage, will anybody pay attention? Kimberley A. Strassel, WSJ, 9 June 2022 The French director, film critic and voracious cinephile Francois Truffaut once suggested a thought experiment. Thomas Doherty, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 Aug. 2022 Popescu, Aharonov and Rohrlich exposed the paradox using a thought experiment. Katie Mccormick, Quanta Magazine, 16 May 2022 The good news in our thought experiment is that the key turning point on the road to nuclear war is solidly within the West's control: NATO leaders are the ones who decide whether their troops will directly confront Russia's. J. Peter Scoblic And David R. Mandel, CNN, 28 June 2022 In Herzog’s hands, Lubang exists outside of time, and Onoda’s war has the eerie gravity of a thought experiment come to life. Dan Piepenbring, The New Yorker, 16 June 2022 This thought experiment, however, does not have to be science fiction. Nicholas Domnisch, Forbes, 25 Apr. 2022 Popescu says the thought experiment, while perplexing, is compatible with this version of conservation of energy. Katie Mccormick, Quanta Magazine, 16 May 2022 See More
Josh St. Clair, Men's Health, 18 Aug. 2022 This week’s Washington corollary to the tree-in-the-forest thought experiment: If the Jan. 6 committee holds professionally polished hearings, amid wall-to-wall prime-time coverage, will anybody pay attention? Kimberley A. Strassel, WSJ, 9 June 2022 The French director, film critic and voracious cinephile Francois Truffaut once suggested a thought experiment. Thomas Doherty, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 Aug. 2022 Popescu, Aharonov and Rohrlich exposed the paradox using a thought experiment. Katie Mccormick, Quanta Magazine, 16 May 2022 The good news in our thought experiment is that the key turning point on the road to nuclear war is solidly within the West's control: NATO leaders are the ones who decide whether their troops will directly confront Russia's. J. Peter Scoblic And David R. Mandel, CNN, 28 June 2022 In Herzog’s hands, Lubang exists outside of time, and Onoda’s war has the eerie gravity of a thought experiment come to life. Dan Piepenbring, The New Yorker, 16 June 2022 This thought experiment, however, does not have to be science fiction. Nicholas Domnisch, Forbes, 25 Apr. 2022 Popescu says the thought experiment, while perplexing, is compatible with this version of conservation of energy. Katie Mccormick, Quanta Magazine, 16 May 2022 See More Word History
First Known Use
1854, in the meaning defined above