PARADOX
“Teachers failing while their students pass exams.” This was the title of an article in a newspaper as 2/3 (21, 780) of 33, 000 teachers failed assessments usually given to 6 year olds, the same exam they set for their students. This seems to defy logic though!!! Some appetizer though.
Let us quickly define the term ‘paradox’
A paradox is a statement that, despite apparently sound reasoning from true premises, leads to an apparently self-contradictory or logically unacceptable conclusion. A paradox involves contradictory yet interrelated elements that exist simultaneously and persist over time.
A paradox is a statement that contradicts itself or a situation which seems to defy logic. That's a simple definition of paradox.
Contradiction
"This statement is false"; the statement cannot be false and true at the same time. Another example of contradiction is if a man talking to a genie wishes that wishes couldn't come true. This contradicts itself because if the genie grants his wish, he did not grant his wish, and if he refuses to grant his wish, then he did indeed grant his wish, therefore making it impossible to either grant or not grant his wish because his wish contradicts itself.
WOW!!! Sounds confusing right?
So I picked up a few paradoxes, some very popular and we can discuss possible solution to the paradoxes. Now let’s have the main course.
Liar Paradox (Epimenides Paradox)
This is a well-known paradox written by the great stoical logician Chrysippos. The poet, grammarian and critic Philetus of Cos was said to have died of exhaustion attempting to resolve it.
- A Cretan sails to Greece and says to some Greek men who are standing upon the shore: "All Cretans are liars." Did he speak the truth, or did he lie?
- A week later, the Cretan sailed to Greece again and said: "All Cretans are liars and all I say is the truth." Although the Greeks on the shore weren't aware of what he had said the first time, they were truly puzzled.
If someone says "I always lie", are they telling the truth? Or are they lying?
Barber Paradox (Russell's Paradox)
Analogue paradox to the 'liar paradox' formulated by English logician, philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell.
In a village, the barber shaves everyone who does not shave himself/herself, but no one else.
Who shaves the barber?
Crocodile Dilemma
A crocodile steals a son from his father, and promises to return the child if the father can correctly guess what the crocodile will do. What happens if the father guesses that the child will not be returned to him?
Grandfather paradox
A man goes back in time, and kills his grandfather before the grandmother can meet his grandfather. This means that one of the man’s parents will not have been born, and the man in turn, will not have been born. This would mean that he could not have traveled back in time after all, which means the grandfather would still be alive, and the traveler would have been conceived allowing him to travel back in time and kill his grandfather.
Oh well, those are some paradoxes. Can someone solve these paradoxes? I think my head is spinning!
What do you think about some ‘desserts’?
• Answer truthfully (yes or no) to the following question: Will the next word you say be 'no'?
• If the temperature this morning is 0 degrees and the Weather Channel says, "It will be twice as cold tomorrow", what will the temperature be?
Okay. Now let’s see your comments about all this paradoxes? And feel free to drop any paradox you don’t seem to understand. Let resolve them logically.