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What is the point of thought experiments?
Thought experiments are usually rhetorical. No particular answer can or should be found. The purpose is to encourage speculation, logical thinking and to change paradigms. Thought experiments push us outside our comfort zone by forcing us to confront questions we cannot answer with ease.
Do you think thought experiments are a good way to build moral principles?
When it comes to questions of ethics, thought experiments can be an extremely useful tool. You can think of these stories as a trial run for decision-making in difficult situations with a variety of moral dimensions. Choose your own adventure. Thought experiments don’t have a “right” or a “wrong” answer.
What are two reasons philosophers use thought experiments quizlet?
According to many philosophers, thought experiments are a source of modal knowledge, this is knowledge about what is necessary, merely possible, or impossible. They can show that something imaginable is possible or they can show that something that is apparently imaginable is impossible.
What scientist had a thought experiment to help describe gravity?
Gedankenexperiment, (German: “thought experiment”) term used by German-born physicist Albert Einstein to describe his unique approach of using conceptual rather than actual experiments in creating the theory of relativity.
What was the simple thought experiment?
But he did devise a simple thought experiment that told us something profound about gravity. Take two weights, one light, one heavy. That implies that when the two are tied together, they will fall more slowly than the heavy weight alone. But together, they weigh more than the heavy alone, so they should fall faster.
In which of the following ways do thought experiments help us to reason?
Thought experiments are useful for practical reasons, they allow us to test things which are impossible to do in real life. According to many philosophers, thought experiments are a source of modal knowledge, this is knowledge about what is necessary, merely possible, or impossible.
How hard is quantum physics to understand?
Quantum physics is usually just intimidating from the get-go. It’s kind of weird and can seem counter-intuitive, even for the physicists who deal with it every day. But it’s not incomprehensible. If you’re reading something about quantum physics, there are really six key concepts about it that you should keep in mind.
Is it possible to predict the outcome of a quantum experiment?
One of the most surprising and (historically, at least) controversial aspects of quantum physics is that it’s impossible to predict with certainty the outcome of a single experiment on a quantum system.
Can quantum gravity unify the worlds of physics and physics?
But researchers working with quantum gravity — a theoretical construct designed to unify the worlds of quantum mechanics and Einstein’s general relativity — showed that under certain circumstances an event might cause an effect that occurred earlier in time.
What is quantum tunneling and how does it work?
Physicists have long known about a strange effect known as “quantum tunneling,” in which particles seem to pass through seemingly impassable barriers. It’s not because they’re so small that they find holes, though.