A physics lab
inside your head
Thought experiments you can run — not just read. From Maxwell's demon to the trolley problem, each experiment is a simulation where you control the assumptions.
A thought experiment is an ideal lab. The equipment never breaks. You can coherently control everything from bacteria to brains — and pause time whenever you need to think.
The catch: most thought experiments live only as text. You read about Schrödinger's cat. You imagine the demon sorting molecules. But you never get to adjust the parameters.
This lab gives you the controls. Each experiment is an interactive simulation where the real insight comes not from reading the setup, but from breaking it.
Experiments
Each widget is a self-contained thought experiment. No prerequisites.
A demon sorts fast and slow molecules — apparently violating the second law of thermodynamics. Until you count the cost of its memory.
Explore →↗ Ethics · Decision theoryThe Trolley ProblemFive people or one. But change the parameters — who they are, what your role is — and watch your own decision shift.
Coming soon↗ Philosophy · MindThe Chinese RoomYou follow the rules perfectly and produce correct answers. Does that mean you understand? Add layers and watch where understanding disappears.
Coming soon↗ Philosophy · IdentityShip of TheseusReplace one plank at a time. Decide at each step whether it's still the same ship. The boundary is yours to set — and to regret.
Coming soon↗ Physics · QuantumSchrödinger's CatAlive and dead until observed. Model the cat, the observer, and the environment as quantum systems and watch collapse — or not.
Coming soon↗ Information · PhysicsGalileo's Free FallBefore you see the simulation, vote. Which falls faster — the heavy sphere or the light one? Intuition versus experiment, live.
Coming soon↗The Lab is a companion to X-Ray — An Interactive Book. Where X-Ray explores how machines learn, The Lab explores how thinking works — through experiments that have no correct answer, only better questions.
Inspired by the work of Maria Violaris (A physics lab inside your head, arXiv:2312.07840), extended beyond physics into ethics, philosophy, and information theory.