10 points for the best PARADOX ever written?

Question

A paradox is a statement which is self contradictory. e.g. "I always lie" is a paradox because if it is true, it must be false.

What kind of other paradox can you present ?

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oh, its so difficult to choose the best one, i have decided to put this on vote.

Answer 1

Military Intelligence.

Answer 2

Actually, a paradox is a statement that APPEARS to contradict, but actually does make sense. This is why all the time-travel problems in fiction are referred to as paradoxes - it makes sense how they would occur (unless things in the story are happening randomly and for no reason) even if it's not SUPPOSED to. An example of this is the man who travels back in time to kill his grandfather.

A kind of paradox is irony, where there is a gap between expectation and understanding, but the gap is (presumably) closed at some later point. A good example of this is a line from a poem, "He loved his wife so much that he crushed her skull." It doesn't SEEM to make sense, but does in a larger context.

What you are thinking of is a contradiction. There is no way for a contradiction to ever occur, unless it is a pun or a witticism disguised as one. An nice example of a contradiction would be Heroclitus' assertion that knowledge is impossible.

The oxymoron is a kind of contradiction, distinguished usually by intent - it is meant to make a point rather than simply be just impossible. Oxymorons aren't even necessarily whole statements, but are often just a phrase, such as "miserly generousity" or "deafening silence".

Your statement above is neither a paradox nor a contradiction per se. It is simply logically impossible, a.k.a. false. Like the one about an omnipotent being creating a rock too heavy to lift... in this case omnipotence is simply an impossible concept.

None of which should be confused with a non sequitur, of course. Non-sequiturs are essentially completely separate subjects cobbled together in a way that makes no sense. A nice example of a non-sequitur would be, "The man put his hat on one leg at a time."

Answer 3

The following solution to the Barber Paradox (see above) is available.

It is only a pradox if you assume that the barber does not let his beard grow. The paradox asks whether the barber shaves himself, and you assume that the only alternative to him shaving himself is that somebody else shaves him. But there is, of course, the third possibility, that the barber does not shave.

You can see now why the answer to the paradox of "what do you do with a paradox?" is that you get a second opinion :-)

Answer 4

This was made up by a Greek man (his name started with "Z" , but I don't remember it): A man is about to race a turtle. He gives the turtle a head start of ten meters. By the time the man has run ten meters the turtle has gone two meters. When the man goes another two meters the turtle has gone half a meter. When the man is half a meter further the turtle is still ahead. This says, basically, that no one can out run a turtle when given ahead start. Yet by common sense we know that practical any one could.

Answer 5

Russel's paradox is pretty good.
Say, some town has a Barber who shaves all and only those men who do not shave themselves.
Now the question is Does the barber shave himself?
If you say he does shave himself then he does not!
And if you say he does not then he Does!

Answer 6

that's amazingly reliable, you probably didn't wish to describe the "Lookie" and 2d lines, they portrayed their own meanings ok. that's ok practice. in case you examine it out loud, you'll discover besides the undeniable fact that that a pair lines have rhythm inversion ( the organic accent is off) and also you could fix those lines merely with the help of including one or 2 syllables effortless, "All those damn delivers" / / - / - / you've 2 organic accents in a row in trochaic sorts, which does no longer artwork nicely. besides the undeniable fact that poetry has no regulations, rythmically it can sound more effective acceptable like so "All of those damn delivers" / - / - / - - merely one filler word makes each of the diffrence hello , i really loved the poem, and that i desire you get round to creating more effective, in case you do, i could favor to work out them, my e-mail is indexed. hello thanks for serving in our military, I get exhilaration from what you do for our usa.

Answer 7

Many of you have the definitions of paradox and oxymoron confused.

Answer 8

Consider all of the men in a small town
as members of a set.
Now imagine that a barber puts up a sign in his shop
that reads

"I shave all those men,
and only those men,
who do not shave themselves."

Obviously, we can further divide
the set of men in this town into two further sets,
those who shave themselves,
and those who are shaved by the barber.
To which set does the barber himself belong?

The barber cannot shave himself,
because he has said he shaves only those men
who do not shave themselves.
Further, he cannot not shave himself,
because he shaves all men who do not shave themselves!

Answer 9

There once was a cat that ate itself up. It started with its tail and then ate the body and finally, its head. Now you tell me how you can eat your own head. This one's so old.

Answer 10

If you ain't outta control, you ain't in control---Tokyo Drift Fast and Furious 3 tagline