thought experiment

Definition of thought experiment

: gedankenexperiment

Examples of thought experiment in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Use it, instead, as a conversation-starting thought experiment in perceptual relativity, as Mouse does in the film. — Wired, "Suckling Porg for Thanksgiving? Yes, Please!," 28 Nov. 2019 Mathematical black holes, on the other hand, serve as the focus of physicists’ thought experiments. — Quanta Magazine, "The Double Life of Black Holes," 29 Jan. 2019 Even last year, Temasek’s thought experiments featured a U.S. monetary shock, along with the usual suspects of a China credit meltdown and a global trade war. — Washington Post, "Singapore Sends an Alert to the Investing World," 10 July 2019 Our thought experiment takes that view a step ahead. — Anil Ananthaswamy, Scientific American, "Spin-Swapping Particles Could Be “Quantum Cheshire Cats”," 6 May 2019 Much of the Frauchiger-Renner thought experiment involves manipulating complex quantum objects—maybe even humans—that end up in superpositions of states. — Wired, "A New Quantum Paradox Flags Errors in Our View of Reality," 9 Dec. 2018 The Boys, out July 25, is a high-octane thought experiment. — Elena Nicolaou, refinery29.com, "Meet The Cast Of Amazon's Wild New Superhero Show, The Boys," 25 July 2019 That makes The Floating Farm more a stop-gap measure, or thought experiment, than a disruptive invention. — Chase Purdy, Quartz, "The Dutch are subverting nature again—with floating dairy farms," 22 July 2019 Much of the Frauchiger-Renner thought experiment involves manipulating complex quantum objects — maybe even humans — that end up in superpositions of states. — Quanta Magazine, "New Quantum Paradox Clarifies Where Our Views of Reality Go Wrong," 3 Dec. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'thought experiment.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

2 Dec 2019

Cite this Entry

“Thought experiment.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thought%20experiment. Accessed 13 December 2019.

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