Thought experiments

canonical example of a game analyzed in game theory

considering hypothesis, theory, or principle for the purpose of thinking through its consequences

hypothetical megastructure, originally described by Freeman Dyson

humorously stated theorem that a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter keyboard for an infinite amount of time will surely type a given text, such as the complete works of William Shakespeare.

Arbitrage (, ) is the practice of taking advantage of a difference in prices in two or more marketsstriking a combination of matching deals to capitalize on the difference, the profit being the difference between the market prices at which the unit is traded. Arbitrage has the effect of causing prices of the same or very similar assets in different markets to converge.

argument that posits that humans bet with their lives that God either exists or does not

historical concept proposing that the planet Earth is entirely hollow or contains a substantial interior space

naturalistic constructed language

hypothetical being who knows the location and momentum of every atom and therefore knows the past and future of the universe using classical mechanics

Brithenig, or also known as Comroig, is an invented language, or constructed language ("conlang"). It was created as a hobby in 1996 by Andrew Smith from New Zealand, who also invented the alternate history of Ill Bethisad to "explain" it. Officially according to the Ill Bethisad Wiki, Brithenig is classified as a Britanno-Romance language, along with other Romance languages that displaced Celtic.

problem used to illustrate synchronization issues and techniques for resolving them

1941 short story by Jorge Luis Borges

novel by Ibn Tufail

2011 non-fiction work by Daniel Kahneman

non-fiction work by Alan Weisman

2008 American apocalyptic television series

thought experiment about a game involving a reliable predictor of the player’s actions

use of software and computer systems architectural principles to integrate a set of enterprise computer applications

paradox that the number of possible protein-folding configurations is too large, so that it is impossible that the lowest-energy configuration will be found purely thermodynamically

AI thought experiment

study of historical events that never happened

device able to make copies of itself

philosophical thought experiment

lecture by Richard Feynman

thought experiment: 2 generals can talk to each other by sending a messenger through enemy territory; how can they agree on time of attack, if any messenger could be captured?

Retrocausality, or backwards causation, is a concept of cause and effect in which an effect precedes its cause in time and so a later event affects an earlier one. In quantum physics, the distinction between cause and effect is not made at the most fundamental level and so time-symmetric systems can be viewed as causal or retrocausal. Philosophical considerations of time travel often address the same issues as retrocausality, as do treatments of the subject in fiction, but the two phenomena are distinct.

conditional with a false "if" clause

paradox in decision theory

economy with one consumer, one producer and two goods

distorted model of the human body based on areas and proportions of the brain dedicated to motor or sensory functions for different body parts

hypothesis for altruism in evolutionary biology

1948 novel by B.F. Skinner

metaphysical question

assessment of modern science's ability to detect evidence of a prior advanced civilization

hypothetical organism that reproduces directly after being born, produces infinitely many offspring, and lives indefinitely

certain model studied in probability theory and combinatorics

misconception in economics about allocation of work

The term "exotheology" was coined in the 1960s or early 1970s for the examination of theological issues as they pertain to extraterrestrial intelligence. It is primarily concerned with either conjecture about possible theological beliefs that extraterrestrials might have, or how our own theologies would be influenced by evidence of and/or interaction with extraterrestrials.

phenomenon and topic of discourse in evolutionary biology and biomechanics

Backcasting is a planning method that starts with defining a desirable future and then works backwards to identify policies and programs that will connect that specified future to the present. The fundamentals of the method were outlined by John B. Robinson from the University of Waterloo in 1990. The fundamental question of backcasting asks: "if we want to attain a certain goal, what actions must be taken to get there?"

nondeterministic Newtonian mechanical system

cognitive strategy

article

thought experiment in evolutionary science

thumb|A model of the hypothetical dinosauroid, Dinosaur Museum (Dorchester)|Dinosaur Museum, Dorchester|273x273px The dinosauroid is a hypothetical species created by Dale A. Russell in 1982. Russell theorized that if a dinosaur such as Stenonychosaurus had not perished in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, its descendants might have evolved to fill the same ecological niche as humans. While the theory has been met with criticism from other scientists, the dinosauroid has been featured widely in books and documentaries since the theory's inception.

hypothesis where women are questioned on whether they want to be stuck in a forest with a man or a bear

thought experiment, debate, and internet meme

Autonomous cybernetic agent

2010 documentary television series

philosophical thought experiment: “A mugger, who forgot his weapon, proposes a deal to Pascal: ‘you give me your wallet, and I will give you N times the money, where N is large enough to compensate for the low probability of me honoring the deal’”

the first specific treatises on economics, especially monetary theory

book by Annie Jacobsen

2012 American television documentary

British philosopher