Hey Gang,
a new thread for discussion; I'll try to start it by being a lightening rod!
I rather like Gedankening myself and consider it indispensable. I believe
Newton's first law came from Gedankening; didn't he have to imagine what
would be the case if you were able to remove all resistive forces, "make the
friction on the hockey puck less and less by better polishing the surface
upon which it slides".
Actually this is precisely the tension present in any beginning introductory
class; basic principles vs the "real world". Is it better to discuss
situations in a Gedanken sort of way, where you've removed "real world"
complications from the disucussion; in order to bring out the basic
principles clearly and unambigously. Or is it better to talk about the
"real world" with all its complications?