1) Phone a friend to come and open the door for you
2) Break the window with my fists and jump out
3) If the floor is made of soil a tunnel can be dug under the walls
4) Use the power in the phone to start a fire and set fire to the door
5) Disassemble the phone and try to make a key to pick the lock
6) Crawl out through a convenient ventilation duct
7) If the lock is connected to the internet the phone could be used to hack it and trick it into unlocking
8) Wait for whoever locked you in to open the door, knock them unconscious and go through the open door
9) Jump up to the low roof and open the skylight
10) Cry out at the top of my voice, to ask someone outside to let me out
11) If the lock can be unlocked by saying the right password keep guessing it until you get it right
12) Dismantle the phone to make an improvised screwdriver, and unscrew the screws holding the lock in place
13) Post messages on every social media account, and hope someone will pick them up and free you.
14) Look for and find a secret passage leading out
15) Contact a good lawyer on the phone, to get the authorities to let you out of jail.
16) Slide piece of clothing under the door, push key out of lock, pull clothing and key under door, use key to open lock
17) Use phone to send money to someone as a bribe to let you out
18) If the phone happens to have the key stored on it to open the lock just use.
19) Pick away at the mortar holding the brisk together until they can be removed.
20) Use acid in the phones battery to melt the lock
21) Pretend to be dead, so whoever locked you in will take your body outside.
22) Bang out an SOS signal on the door in the hope it will attract the attention of someone who will let you out
23) Call the fire brigade to get you out
24) Take something thin out of the phone, insert it between the door and the frame, and try and force the lock back
25) Crawl out through a large gap under the door
26) Call a locksmith to let you out
27) Keep running into the door until it gives way
28) Keep jumping up and down on the floor till it gives way and you fall into the room below.
29) Just wait. If the room is in a bad state of repair one of the walls might collapse allowing me to walk out.
30) Who cares about the physical world. If I have wi-fi I can escape virtually into cyberspace
31) Pray to a God to let me out
32) Find something magnetic in the phone. Use the magnet to draw the bolt on the other side of the door back
33) My clothes are an improvised suit or armour partly made up of a saw (I was attending a fancy dress party). Use the saw to cut through the lock
34) Set my clothes on fire. The lock is programmed to open if a fire is detected, so I can walk out
35) Use the phone to create a program for a super intelligent AI, and leave it to figure out how to get me out
36) Post a creative thinking exercise to Less Wrong: Find 50 ways to get out of a locked room and hope someone comes up with a usable idea
37) Use the phone to contact my driverless car. It can ram the walls to break through and let me out
38) The room is precariously balanced on a cliff edge. Moving to one side will cause it to topple and then break up
39) Someone forgot to build a roof, so I can jump up grab the top of the walls and hall myself out
40) If there is a letter box in the door I can reach through it and unbolt the door
41) The lock is made out of glass. Sing at its resonant frequency so it shatters and the door can be opened
42) Just walk up to the door. It just happens to be a type that automatically unlocks and opens when someone approaches
43) Fiddle with the phone so it starts transmitting at a frequency that will interfere with other important transmissions. The authorities will need to come and unlock the room to stop the interference.
44) The walls of the room are made of light weight plastic which is not fixed to the floor, so I can pick the entire room up and slip under it.
45) Remove some wire from the phone, push it through the letterbox and try to pick up the key which has been left on a nearby shelf with it.
46) I left a spare key buried in the ground just in case I got locked in. Dig it out and use it to escape.
47) There is a big whole in a wall that has been covered over with a piece of canvas. I can find something sharp in the phone to cut my way out.
48) Kill this body and activate a clone which is not locked inside the room.
49) If our technology advanced enough that we can live without food or water for 10 years maybe its advanced enough that I can just teleport out.
50) Keep punching the wall until it is worn away and I can step out
Hilariously, that was actually one of the most common responses across answers. I’ve seen it ~5 times! (And I didn’t consider at all while making the challenge and answering myself.)
1) Phone a friend to come and open the door for you
2) Break the window with my fists and jump out
3) If the floor is made of soil a tunnel can be dug under the walls
4) Use the power in the phone to start a fire and set fire to the door
5) Disassemble the phone and try to make a key to pick the lock
6) Crawl out through a convenient ventilation duct
7) If the lock is connected to the internet the phone could be used to hack it and trick it into unlocking
8) Wait for whoever locked you in to open the door, knock them unconscious and go through the open door
9) Jump up to the low roof and open the skylight
10) Cry out at the top of my voice, to ask someone outside to let me out
11) If the lock can be unlocked by saying the right password keep guessing it until you get it right
12) Dismantle the phone to make an improvised screwdriver, and unscrew the screws holding the lock in place
13) Post messages on every social media account, and hope someone will pick them up and free you.
14) Look for and find a secret passage leading out
15) Contact a good lawyer on the phone, to get the authorities to let you out of jail.
16) Slide piece of clothing under the door, push key out of lock, pull clothing and key under door, use key to open lock
17) Use phone to send money to someone as a bribe to let you out
18) If the phone happens to have the key stored on it to open the lock just use.
19) Pick away at the mortar holding the brisk together until they can be removed.
20) Use acid in the phones battery to melt the lock
21) Pretend to be dead, so whoever locked you in will take your body outside.
22) Bang out an SOS signal on the door in the hope it will attract the attention of someone who will let you out
23) Call the fire brigade to get you out
24) Take something thin out of the phone, insert it between the door and the frame, and try and force the lock back
25) Crawl out through a large gap under the door
26) Call a locksmith to let you out
27) Keep running into the door until it gives way
28) Keep jumping up and down on the floor till it gives way and you fall into the room below.
29) Just wait. If the room is in a bad state of repair one of the walls might collapse allowing me to walk out.
30) Who cares about the physical world. If I have wi-fi I can escape virtually into cyberspace
31) Pray to a God to let me out
32) Find something magnetic in the phone. Use the magnet to draw the bolt on the other side of the door back
33) My clothes are an improvised suit or armour partly made up of a saw (I was attending a fancy dress party). Use the saw to cut through the lock
34) Set my clothes on fire. The lock is programmed to open if a fire is detected, so I can walk out
35) Use the phone to create a program for a super intelligent AI, and leave it to figure out how to get me out
36) Post a creative thinking exercise to Less Wrong: Find 50 ways to get out of a locked room and hope someone comes up with a usable idea
37) Use the phone to contact my driverless car. It can ram the walls to break through and let me out
38) The room is precariously balanced on a cliff edge. Moving to one side will cause it to topple and then break up
39) Someone forgot to build a roof, so I can jump up grab the top of the walls and hall myself out
40) If there is a letter box in the door I can reach through it and unbolt the door
41) The lock is made out of glass. Sing at its resonant frequency so it shatters and the door can be opened
42) Just walk up to the door. It just happens to be a type that automatically unlocks and opens when someone approaches
43) Fiddle with the phone so it starts transmitting at a frequency that will interfere with other important transmissions. The authorities will need to come and unlock the room to stop the interference.
44) The walls of the room are made of light weight plastic which is not fixed to the floor, so I can pick the entire room up and slip under it.
45) Remove some wire from the phone, push it through the letterbox and try to pick up the key which has been left on a nearby shelf with it.
46) I left a spare key buried in the ground just in case I got locked in. Dig it out and use it to escape.
47) There is a big whole in a wall that has been covered over with a piece of canvas. I can find something sharp in the phone to cut my way out.
48) Kill this body and activate a clone which is not locked inside the room.
49) If our technology advanced enough that we can live without food or water for 10 years maybe its advanced enough that I can just teleport out.
50) Keep punching the wall until it is worn away and I can step out
#36 is positively artful in its cheekery.
Hilariously, that was actually one of the most common responses across answers. I’ve seen it ~5 times! (And I didn’t consider at all while making the challenge and answering myself.)