Does anyone here actually UNDERSTAND what a Paradox is?

Question

''A paradox is a situation in which something seems both true and false. ''

paradox - (logic) a statement that contradicts itself; "`I always lie' is a paradox because if it is true it must be false"

WHY If It is True .. then it 'must' be false???

I am confused. Are you? Or am I missing something here?

Some of you are getting confused with what an OXYMORON is and a PARADOX.

Haha Don. I actually got that one! Thanks =)

Answer 1

"I can help YOU"...so, said a top contributor (oxymoron) in
paradox within a paradox. ...enjoy.

Answer 2

Steve gave a very good overview; on the specific example, it's important to see that "I always lie" is not a paradox in the sense of being neither true nor false, it's just something that it's always false. If it was true, I would not be lying on this occasion, so it would be false that I always lie. But if it's false, there is no contradiction; for some reason, I am now lying about myself (or perhaps I am just wrong), but sometimes I tell the truth, hence the falsity of the statement.
A more problematic case is "this statement is false"; because in this case not only if were true it would be false, but at the same time if it were false it would be true! so we find contradiction whichever way we go!

Answer 3

The best of practical illustration of a paradox is the classic liar's paradox. It can be rephrased from the conversation version into this simple sentence :

This sentence is false.


Ok -now if the sentence is false, it's true, right? But it can't be true, because it says it is false - see the paradox? Most paradoxes involve some form of self reference, as in the classic "twins paradox" posited by Einstein, referring to the aging difference between 2 twins - 1 who stays on earth, and the other one who travels on a spaceship at the speed of light. If the twin on the sapecship came back after 3 earth years, according to special relativity, he would actually be younger than the twin who stayed on earth because time would have travelled slower for him. But how could that be? It is a paradox - something that seems true (because of the thoery of relativity) but also seems false (because of common sense). Hope this helps.

Answer 4

In making the statement "I always lie" you are either telling the truth or lying...if you are lying than you have told the truth, so it is a lie and is not a paradox, if you are telling the truth it is no longer true and therefor a lie, which would make it truth, which makes it a lie which makes it truth...forever and ever...

Paradox is a stalemat of statement, where it works one way, but in doing so contradicts itself, and makes itslef false....

the idea of a paradox is a pardox in that is something that is not difineable by one answer, but is defined in every dictionary.

Edit:

Examples:

The chicken or the egg

God's creator

Oxymorons:
"I'm not here"
Afterlife
True lies
Half truth
Absolutely random
Intentional accident
Random logic
End of the line


I thought of all of these, but I am sure there are many more....

Please understand that a paradox MUST reference itself in an absolute fashion, and in doing so contradict itself AND prove itself to be true in the same instance.

Oxymorons are just wrong, lies in fact. A paradox cannot be disproven either way without proving itself.

Answer 5

There are several types of paradox. On the one hand, a paradox is a statement of conclusion that seems self-contradictory or absurd but is really true. This was classed by philosopher and logician W.V. Quine as a veridical paradox. An example is the adage, “It is better to give than to receive.” It seems obvious that the benefits of receiving inevitably outweigh any possible advantages of giving, but many people find that, contrary to expectations, this is not their experience.

Here is another example. In the operetta The Pirates of Penzance by W.S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan, the young man Frederic is indentured to a band of pirates until his 21st birthday. Unfortunately for him, the contract did not say until he was 21 years old, which is only a significant difference when your birthday is on Leap Year’s Day, February 29 – but his was. Consequently, although he had lived 21 years at the point of the action of the operetta, he was aged – by his birthdays – at a bit over 5 and not free of his indenture.

A paradox is also a statement of conclusion that, despite a seemingly valid argument based on acceptable premises behind it, leads to a conclusion that is senseless or fallacious. Zeno’s paradox of motion is an example. Boiled down, the logic of Zeno’s paradox is that you cannot reach a given point B from A, because prior to reaching B you must get halfway to B, and prior to getting halfway to B you must get halfway to halfway to B, and so on. Presented as passing an infinite number of points to reach a destination, movement is made to seem impossible. This is what Quine called a falsidical paradox: one that both appears to be and is, under scrutiny, false.

In addition, a paradox is a statement to which no truth value can be assigned. The sentences, “This statement is false,” and, “I am a liar,” are examples.
1. This statement is false.2a. Suppose 1 is true.Contradiction: If it’s true that it’s false then it isn’t false.
1. This statement is false.2b. Suppose 1 is false.3b. Invoke the opposite of 1: This statement is true.Contradiction: A statement can’t be both true and false.

This type of paradox was called by Quine an antinomy, which is explained as a paradox in which reason properly applied reaches a self-contradictory result.

Answer 6

A paradox is an curiously genuine fact or team of statements that at last leads to a contradiction or a concern which defies instinct. usually, the two the statements in question do not incredibly propose the contradiction, the perplexing result won't be a contradiction, or the premises themselves at the instant are not all incredibly genuine or won't be able to all be genuine jointly. The be conscious paradox is many times used interchangeably with contradiction. on occasion the term paradox is used for circumstances that are purely mind-blowing. The birthday paradox, working example, is unpredicted yet completely logical. that's additionally the utilization in economics, the place a paradox is a counterintuitive results of financial concept. In literature it incredibly is any contradictory or for sure unfaithful fact, which resolves itself upon later inspection.

Answer 7

Apparently self-contradictory statement, the underlying meaning of which is revealed only by careful scrutiny. The purpose of a paradox is to arrest attention and provoke fresh thought. The statement “Less is more” is an example. Francis Bacon's saying, “The most corrected copies are commonly the least correct,” is an earlier literary example.
The word paradox is often used interchangeably with contradiction.

Answer 8

Not really, though some may claim to do so.Further,if we can understand a Paradox then it would have another name for it.Historically,many paradox have been faced by mankind and some were resolved by making either some assumptions or fixing some parameters,while dealing with it.What we get are conditional answers.Paradox serve us in raking our brains and train to be creative ,innovative and to look beyond the logic,rationality and the obvious. The greatest importance and usefulness of paradox is not actually understanding them but making EFFORTS to understand them.

Answer 9

Quite.

Actually, a paradox is a figure of speech, a part of logic and math. I think if you are going to use math examples it'll make more sense to you than literature because there are many math theories that are both true and false at the same time unlike when you use literature it'll make no sense at all.

Answer 10

paradox, statement that appears self-contradictory but actually has a basis in truth, e.g., Oscar Wilde's "Ignorance is like a delicate fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone." Many New Critics maintained that paradox is not just a rhetorical or illustrative device but a basic aspect of all poetic language.

Yes it is contradicting but has a seed of truth in it.

Answer 11

Something like a sad clown would be a paradox. A clown by definition would be expected to be cheery but it is possible for one not to be. The fore one contradicts the other but is still true. A paradox is a seeming contradiction.

Hope this helps!