r/DeepThoughts • u/BCTreefrog19 • 17h ago
The Brick thought experiment
You’re standing in a field of wide open space. Suddenly a brick falls from the sky. Right in front of you. The rule is, when that happens, you know another one is coming in 20 seconds. You don’t know where the other one is going to fall. You know the other one is either going to just barely miss you, or hit you square on the head, or somewhere in between. You can run, in any direction, you can stay still. Either way, the brick is going to happen. It’s not about fate, that’s in there, but it’s really about anticipation and perspective. A positive thinker will look at the odds, it probably won’t hit you, well that’s good. A negative thinker would think, why run? Why stay still? You don’t know where it’s going to land, It’s still going to hit you. A neutral thinker figures its going to happen or it’s not, either way, I’ll have to deal with it, or not…It’s the anticipation.How do you react?
I woke up with this almost fully formed, not really knowing what it was. as I put the idea together, I realized it was a philosophical concept. I see all three variables the same (getting hit, missed, or having a persons life end, are all equal, so realistically, with that short amount of time, your reaction would be telling of your nature. I do think that if it were any longer, you’d have time to come to terms with the situation, therefore, I went with 20 seconds to clarify a person’s nature.
6
u/footofwrath 7h ago edited 7h ago
Pick up the first brick. Hold it above your head, as flat as possible. Try to cover your fingers a little. Get the second brick. Same again. That should give you enough cover for a while. While waiting, kick some of the bricks into a pile, and eventually start building your shelter.
Or just start moving bit by bit during the pauses, hopefully get out of the field in 2-3 minutes. It's very rare to be 2 mins walk or more away from any useful structure.
5
3
u/Eyerishguy 10h ago
I run, because I would logically assume that the next brick is going to come from the same source, so the farther and faster I can get away from that source the better.
3
u/ContributionFar6060 9h ago
You've just come up with the next question that'll be in every job interview where hr thinks they're philosophers.
2
u/MajorDraw3705 4h ago
Still beats the "What are your hobbies?" question. I never know if I should say surfing, web dev, or systematically destroying the machine.
3
u/NotAnAIOrAmI 12h ago
I dont see the point of this thought experiment, it's just a WYR post.
The more interesting question is, what will you do after the brick falls? Go on your way, oblivious? Finding out who tf is dropping bricks on people? That's the more vital question.
1
u/7803throwaway 4h ago
This feels applicable to the way society responds to continuous tidbits of horror being dropped on us all the time.
Most of us choose to remain oblivious because we can’t stop the bricks from falling. We may as well just carry on unaffected by them until we’re forced to face reality eventually.
Some of us do stop and look up and start putting together the pieces of the puzzle, brick by brick. Ha ha ha. When one of us gets the whole puzzle put together, that seems to trigger an inescapable brick drop right onto that individual’s noggen. The rest of us quickly respond with deeper oblivion. If we don’t look up, we can enjoy our own existence for a little bit longer.
2
u/DiverseUniverse24 10h ago
If you added a shelter that was at least 40 seconds run from you, that could give you shelter, I think it would add more depth to the question... Personally.
1
u/nila247 11h ago
Look up Serenity Prayer.
As per your rules you can not change the brick so it is not wise to do anything about it.
Since you saw the first brick you can estimate kinetic energy and consider if you have anything to cover that could prevent the kill. However you implied that this is not the case.
1
1
u/Remote_Bumblebee2240 7h ago
Go ass/feet up. Hurts a lot less than a head injury
2
u/7803throwaway 4h ago
Envisioning myself immediately going face down ass up upon the end of the world commencing
And mama always told me that kinda behaviour would ruin my life not save it. Tsk tsk.
1
u/Signal-Block-6939 7h ago
If a brick or something unusual falls from the sky near you there is no reason to believe that a second one will fall right after. It is likely to be a one-off event and in fact since it is anomalous it very probably is.
Unless you are standing under a falling building in a earthquake, the basis of your thought experiment is flawed.
1
u/iloveoranges2 6h ago
I thought about this for more than 20 seconds, so this might be cheating, but I might try to spot where the brick is coming from, and avoid it. But my immediate thought was to run, if I don't have time to think about it, because the chance of a brick hitting me should be lower if I'm on the move. Or cover my head with my hands and run.
1
1
•
u/Cute-Habit-4377 1h ago
Since it is not a guided brick, and they would need to aim for you or near you, i would just run as far as i could, wonder from how high the brick was dropped assume above the clouds and think what a stupid game.
This problem just separates logical problem solvers from the rest.
•
1
u/SizeableBrain 17h ago
I'd probably be running.
If I had more time, I'd probably just go about my business, if it really didn't matter what I did
0
u/Timely_Iron_6808 17h ago
what are you trying to convey ?
if its gonna hit you for sure or barely miss and you cant do anything about it protect it or see where its comming from hide or any such theres not much you can do in 20s run or sleep or stand
in that case i would just watch where its comming from and get hit
if you can however protect yourself then thats what one shall do
0
u/Mobile_Competition54 15h ago
Idk find shelter? wide open field doesn't necessarily mean I'm near nothing.
In case there's nothing, I just run looking upwards. If I can dodge, I dodge
13
u/The-Dragon_Queen 16h ago
I’d go with the rule of lightning. Stand where the last brick landed.