What If We Discovered We Were Living in a Simulation?
• 6 min read • technology
The physics checks out, the news breaks at 9am, and by lunchtime everyone is having a very bad day for very different reasons.
Daily thought experiments, philosophical puzzles, and impossible scenarios explored in depth. One question at a time.
Latest Questions
What If All Plastic Disappeared Overnight?
• 6 min read • nature
Eight billion tonnes of plastic vanish in an instant. The oceans exhale. Hospitals panic. And we discover how much of modern life is basically just shaped petroleum.
What If the Roman Empire Never Fell?
• 7 min read • history
Rome surviving antiquity sounds like a straight upgrade. It wasn't going to work out that way.
What If You Could Talk to Your Pet for One Day?
• 7 min read • philosophy
One day of actual conversation with your pet. What would they say? Probably not what you're hoping.
What If the Earth Stopped Spinning?
• 7 min read • science
The Earth rotates at 1,670 km/h at the equator. If it stopped, the oceans wouldn't. That's the beginning of the problem.
What If Humans Had Tails?
• 6 min read • fun
Chairs would be a nightmare, trousers would need a rethink, and job interviews would never be the same again.
What If Every Human Lost the Ability to Lie?
• 7 min read • society
If everyone suddenly could only tell the truth, the first casualties wouldn't be politicians — they'd be your own family dinners.
What If You Shuffled a Deck of Cards Into the Same Order Twice?
• 6 min read • science
52 factorial is a number so large it breaks your intuition. Every shuffle you've ever done was probably a first — and a last.
What If the Moon Disappeared Overnight?
• 7 min read • science
Tides shrink to a third, nights go properly dark, and Earth starts wobbling like a drunk compass. Here's what we lose.