[tjradcliffe]

> They are proposing a thought experiment -- you know, the kind lots of scientists did, Einstein and Shroedigger among them.

Neither Einstein nor Schrodinger "did" thought experiments. They used thought experiments (which is a really terrible name for imaginary scenarios) to motivate arguments and guide thinking, not to demonstrate anything.

No one who has been paying attention to the history of knowledge uses thought experiments for anything other than illustrative, explanatory or motivational purposes. In particular, the conceit that imaginary scenarios can teach us anything about the way reality actually is long outdated, as no such imaginary scenario has ever done any such thing.

Relativity was motivated by thought experiments, but so too have been numerous false ideas. Therefore thought experiments can do nothing to distinguish false ideas from true ones, so anyone who uses them for that purpose is doing them wrong.