What is Thought experiment?
{{globalize}} A '''thought experiment''' is an [[experiment]] that takes place in people's minds instead of in a laboratory or in the real world. In a real-life experiment, people can see and measure changes, but thought experiments only show special ways of thinking. Anyone can do a thought experiment. The usual goal of a thought experiment is to show what might happen: ''if this were true, what would follow from it?'' The [[history of science]] has many thought experiments in it. [[Hans Christian Ørsted]] was the first to use the German term ''{{lang|de|Gedankenexperiment}}'' (means 'thought experiment') in about 1812.<ref>Witt-Hansen (1976). Although ''{{lang|de|Experiment}}'' is a German word, it is derived from [[Latin]]. The synonym ''{{lang|de|Versuch}}'' has purely [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] roots.</ref> Posing [[hypothetical]] questions had been done for long time (by scientists and philosophers).<ref>Sorensen R.A. 1992. ''Thought Experiments''. Oxford University Press.</ref><ref>Horowitz T. & Massey G.J. (eds) 1991. ''Thought experiments in science and philosophy''. Rowman & Littlefield.</ref> However, people had no way of talking about it. ==Famous thought experiments== *[[Trolley problem]] *[[Schrödinger's cat]] == References == {{reflist}} == Related pages == *[[Paradox]] *[[Zeno's paradoxes]] {{Sci-stub}} [[category:Science]] [[Category:Philosophy of science]] [[Category:Thought]]