thought experiment

American  

noun

1. Physics.  a demonstration or calculation that is based on the postulates of a theory, as relativity, and that demonstrates or clarifies the consequences of the postulates.

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Etymology

Origin of thought experiment

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

Another favorite question Atlas asks is the “man or bear” thought experiment.

From Salon

Musk met Grimes while trying to make a dad joke about Roko’s Basilisk, a thought experiment about an all-powerful future artificial intelligence that punishes past critics via time travel.

From Salon

Here is a thought experiment about real democracy in America: What if more working-class and middle-class Americans were elected to public office?

From Salon

It’s a thought experiment more than anything else, from a story by Komasa and Lori Rosene-Gambino, the latter who wrote the screenplay.

From Los Angeles Times

The title itself hints at what a different time that was for TV and our nation: Thought leaders, academics and politicians gathered for this thought experiment in good faith.

From Salon