Einstein said we can’t solve our problems with the same thinking that created them. Science estimates we have between 30 and 50 thoughts per minute. That’s a lot of chances to change our thinking.
Widely regarded as the smartest man to ever walk the earth, Einstein made good use of these chances. He loved thought experiments. In fact, a thought experiment became the first seed of his theory of general relativity.
Einstein imagined himself riding on a beam of light towards the sun. Looking at another beam right next to him, he should have perceived it as stationary, but, according to the laws of physics, that was impossible. Years later, thanks to another thought experiment, Einstein concluded the only possible answer: time itself is relative.
Although this wasn’t the insight that won him the Nobel prize, decades of science have built upon it. 100 years later, researchers finally verified the most important chunks of his theory as unequivocally true.
There’s something to be said here about vision, about genius, and about daring to imagine, but the real point is this: A question opens the mind. A statement closes it. You can’t upgrade your thinking with statements. You have to ask better questions.
Thought experiments are the most elaborate questions you can ask. By layering multiple hypotheses on top of each other, you force yourself to think from new perspectives and then consider not just first-, but second-, and even third-order effects. That’s a powerful mental exercise. Who knows? One day, one of them might win you a Nobel prize.
Here are five thought experiments to further upgrade your thinking.
1. You’re Never Really Alone
How many people do you think of on any given day? Not as in, “I just got a text from John, I hope he is doing well.” Fleeting, split-second appearances. A mental image that flashes for a few seconds, then it’s gone.
After counting for a while, I realized I must think of 100+ people a day. One. Hundred. People. In my small head. Every single day.
You know what that means, don’t you? If dozens of people show up in my mind each day, there’s a good chance dozens of people show up in yours. And if you’re thinking about that many people, so is everyone else.
If you think of 100 people every day, one way or another, 100 people are thinking of you. Somewhere out there, be it down the street or thousands of miles away, someone is sending a tiny burst of energy your way. Not exactly every 15 minutes but dozens of times a day.
You are more than your thoughts. You’re also plenty of other people’s.
It might not always feel that way, but trust me: You’re never really alone.
2. The Library at the End of the Universe
Somewhere, in a far and remote corner of the universe, there is a library. In this library, there’s a journal for every person on the planet.
When they’re born, it’s empty. But from that day, it gets updated every night. A magic pen writes down all their thoughts for every 24-hour period. What they did. How they felt. How they saw things.
As they get older, this mystical, self-filling diary grows. It gets bigger and bigger and bigger. Until, one day, like all of us, that person dies.
Then, the pen starts editing the book. It crosses out entire chapters. It zones in on the important. It turns the diary into a story. The next day, the book is published. It appears in book stores around the world. It shows up on Amazon. It’s an autobiography. The story of that person’s life.
Imagine how big the book would be. For an 80-year-old. A 50-year-old. Even a 20-year-old. If a published book has 10,000 sentences, which ones would make the cut? What would be the title?
“I Was An Accountant For 40 Years. It Was A Huge Mistake.”
“A Truck Hit Me When I Was 20. I Have No Regrets.”
“I Was An Accountant For 40 Years And I Loved Every Minute.”
Every human has a book inside them. Not everyone chooses to write it, but if we could read all of them, out of billions of books, not one would be boring. There would be something to learn from each one.
Your book is not completed yet, but every thought you have, every second you spend goes into it. Which ones progress your story? Which ones belong in your book?
Somewhere, in a far and remote corner of the universe, there is a library. But this? This is your story. Make it a good one.
3. A Country Full of You’s
You step outside your house. Imagine there’s a camera, centered on you from a bird’s eye view. Now, it moves up. And up. And up. Soon, you can only see a dot in front of your house. That’s you. But the camera keeps zooming out.
The rest of your street appears. Houses. Cars. People. Then, your entire quarter. The whole town. The one next to it. And the next. And the next.
Now, you see highways. Lakes. Mountains. Rivers. When the camera finally stops, you can’t see your house anymore. You can only guess where your town is. But you can clearly see your country. It’s a big place, isn’t it?
What if every person in your entire country was an exact replica of you?
Look at the map again. Zoom in a little. What color is the landscape? Grey? Green? Zoom in some more. Are people honking on the highway? Do they move slowly? Are they angry? Stressed? How do they treat one another?
In our day-to-day lives, we can’t see our habits. We act in the moment. When we observe groups of people, however, the strongest traits are amplified. It’s easy to see which trait wins. What if the group was just us?
Take a moment. Think. If you spot a trait you don’t like, you can change it. All you have to do is zoom back in.
4. The Fox and the Rabbit
Evolutionary biologist and author of The Selfish Gene Richard Dawkins said:
“The rabbit runs faster than the fox, because the rabbit is running for his life while the fox is only running for his dinner.”
In your career, are you a fox or a rabbit? Are you in a solid financial position and can handpick your projects? Then turn down meaningless requests and do the work that matters. Or are you just starting out and have to make rent? Then don’t think. Get the job that pays, then figure out your next step.
In your relationship, are you a fox or a rabbit? Are you cruising along, comfortable with each other’s faults? Or is the curtain about to fall on two separated people living in one house? In that case, it’s time to put up a fight.
The list goes on and on. Your health, your friendships, your parenting efforts, your art, your startup, your legacy. In all of these things, you’re either a fox or a rabbit. The fox can go without dinner how many times? 3? 5? 10? But the rabbit can never be caught. This isn’t to say you should always run, but:
Know if you’re a fox or a rabbit in each area of life at any given time.
Being the fox in one arena allows us to be the rabbit in another. Be slow here to be fast over there. You can’t change your whole life at once. What unites the fox and the rabbit is pace. Their shared tempo decides if they meet and brawl to death or live to fight another day. How you spread your pace across your life decides what you can change in which order. But everything takes time.
A fox or a rabbit. Which one are you?
5. Your Life in 10 Boxes
Let’s say you live a 100-year life. Tim Urban offers a great way of figuring out how to spend it. Imagine ten boxes:
Every box represents ten years of your life. The first box is age 0–10, the second is 10–20, and so on. Let that sink in for a second. Each box is a decade. That’s a long time. We often underestimate how much we can do in one. But it also takes that time to find greatness. Want to be a great dad? That might take ten years. Climb up the corporate ladder? Most executives aren’t 25. Thinking in 10-year projects will lower your expectations and raise patience.
Unfortunately, we’ll have to cross out the first two. You can hardly do anything on your own in the first and may still live with your parents all through the second. Those are just growing up. Then again, who really has their life figured out by the time they turn 30? We might be grown up, but the soul-searching has just begun. So let’s cross out the third one too.
Okay! 30–40. Now the game really starts. You’re grounded, committed, and you know what to do. But what about the end of the spectrum? You won’t run at the same energy level until you’re 100. You need time to slow down and retire. After crossing out the last two boxes, this is what you’re left with:
Wait a minute. Hey! Where’d all the time go? Those aren’t that many boxes! Only five left? That’s not fair! Where did your 100 years go? Well, that’s life.
Like everything built around momentum, it takes a while to get going, and it slows down before it stops. That’s normal. It happens to everyone, but we truly do have less time than we think.
You can do a lot in ten years, but you’ll get few 10-year stretches. Before you know it, another box is gone. Choose carefully. Let’s not waste a single one.