Thread of Paradoxes: Make Your Head Explode!

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The discussion centers on various mind-bending paradoxes and logical conundrums, inviting participants to share their favorites. Key examples include the Pinocchio paradox, where if he says "My nose will grow," it creates a contradiction, and the Ship of Theseus, questioning whether a ship remains the same if all its parts are replaced over time. Other paradoxes discussed involve self-referential statements, such as the barber paradox, and the implications of truth and exceptions in rules. Participants also explore humorous observations and linguistic quirks, such as why we park on driveways and drive on parkways, and the challenges of spelling words like "dyslexia." The conversation highlights the complexity of definitions, logic, and the nature of reality, suggesting that many aspects of life can be viewed as paradoxical.
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I thought it might be fun to have a thread to make your head explode! By means of posting some of your favorite mind-bending paradoxes.

I just heard a new one (for me) today that I thought was pretty good, thought I'd share!

What if Pinocchio said "My nose will grow"?
 
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Suppose you have a ship in which one part fails each week. You replace the old broken part with a new part, scrapping the old part in some junk yard. Over the course of a few years, you have scrapped every original piece of the ship for new parts because all the old pieces of the ship broke. Is this the same ship? Here's the kicker: if we take all the original pieces and put them back together (suppose we repair them or whatever to make the parts work again) to make the same 'old' ship, is this the same ship? Does this mean we have two of the same ship?
 
Kronos5253 said:
What if Pinocchio said "My nose will grow"?

well, Pinocchio also said that he always lies...

Pupil said:
Does this mean we have two of the same ship?

that's how we had a few extra air planes in the air force.
 
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The adult male barber who shaves all men who do not shave themselves, and no one else. Can he shave himself?

If there is an exception to every rule, then every rule must have at least one exception, the exception to this one being that it has no exception.

Is the word "heterological", meaning "not applicable to itself," a heterological word?

A law student agrees to pay his teacher after winning his first case. The teacher then sues the student (who has not yet won a case) for payment.

If truth does not exist, the statement "truth does not exist" is a truth, thereby proving itself incorrect.
 
Andre said:
well, Pinocchio also said that he always lies...

True, but that in itself is a lie, so his nose would just grow
 
There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.
"That's some catch, that Catch-22," Yossarian observed.
"It's the best there is," Doc Daneeka agreed.
 
A dog once told me that dogs can't talk.
 
Why do we drive on a parkway and park on a driveway?

Why do we call the year having an extra day a "leap year"? Where is the leap?

Hot-water heaters

Why is there no mouse-flavored cat food? Why don't we find catfood made from mouse?

Why is there cat food made from vegetables?
 
Ivan Seeking said:
Hot-water heaters

Hahahahaahahaha... I've never thought about that before, but I have to admit, I literally laughed out loud when I read that one
 
  • #10
Women
 
  • #11
Why do two planes have a near-miss rather than a near-hit?
 
  • #12
Why is 'abbreviation' such a long word?

(Of course, these aren't paradoxes.)
 
  • #13
And why is Dyslexia so hard to spell
 
  • #14
If you don't know how to spell a word, how can you look it up?
 
  • #15
Paradoxes are just roundabout ways of saying "X is not X"
 
  • #16
What is a synonym for thesaurus?
 
  • #17
jimmysnyder said:
If you don't know how to spell a word, how can you look it up?

More importantly, if you don't know how to spell a word, how would you know that you've found it after looking it up? :bugeye:
 
  • #18
junglebeast said:
More importantly, if you don't know how to spell a word, how would you know that you've found it after looking it up? :bugeye:

That's why dictionaries give definitions. Also, you must have a rough idea how to spell a word so you simply look in the general area (for example if you can't spell aerodynamic, you would look for things like airo and if it isn't there you move onto aero.) and find the one you want (check it against the definition). Obviously, a few exceptions are things like xylophone, where, if you can't spell it you really are s******.

Then again, these days simply misspell it in google and it will give you the correct spelling. "Did you mean..."
 
  • #19
If we want to check if human logic is right, we have to use... human logic.
 
  • #20
DaveC426913 said:
Why is 'abbreviation' such a long word?

mgb_phys said:
And why is Dyslexia so hard to spell

And shouldn't there be a shorter word for 'monosyllabic'?
Return to the OP...

What is the set of all things that don't belong to a set?
 
  • #21
Chi Meson said:
What is the set of all things that don't belong to a set?
And again XKCD imitates life...

http://xkcd.com/468/"
 
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  • #22
I'm looking for the wrong thread to post this. Is this the wrong thread?
 
  • #23
Chi Meson said:
What is the set of all things that don't belong to a set?

That would be the notaset.
 
  • #24
jarednjames said:
That's why dictionaries give definitions. Also, you must have a rough idea how to spell a word so you simply look in the general area (for example if you can't spell aerodynamic, you would look for things like airo and if it isn't there you move onto aero.) and find the one you want (check it against the definition). Obviously, a few exceptions are things like xylophone, where, if you can't spell it you really are s******.

Then again, these days simply misspell it in google and it will give you the correct spelling. "Did you mean..."

I wasn't being literal :wink:
 
  • #25
My favorite paradox:

http://comps.fotosearch.com/comp/THK/THK280/two-doctors_~e00010593.jpg

:biggrin:
 
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  • #26
Brian: "You are all individuals!"
Crowd: "We are all individuals!"
Individual:"I'm not."



DaveC426913's Corollary A:

He: "Every person is different."
Me: "That is a generalization. I, for one, am not different."


DaveC426913's Corollary B:

She: "All the drawers in this cabinet are different sizes. Except the bottom one."
 
  • #27
Tsu said:
My favorite paradox:

http://comps.fotosearch.com/comp/THK/THK280/two-doctors_~e00010593.jpg

:biggrin:
Identical twins?
 
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  • #28
EnumaElish said:
Identical twins?
Yeah. I didn't get it either. Too subtle for me.
 
  • #29
DaveC426913 said:
Yeah. I didn't get it either. Too subtle for me.
I'm at a loss, I was looking for a paradox, but all I saw was a pair o' docs. What gives?
 
  • #30
jimmysnyder said:
I'm at a loss, I was looking for a paradox, but all I saw was a pair o' docs. What gives?
This reminds me that I need to see an eye doc.
 
  • #31
Tsu said:
My favorite paradox:

http://comps.fotosearch.com/comp/THK/THK280/two-doctors_~e00010593.jpg

:biggrin:

This is mine...
http://altura.speedera.net/ccimg.catalogcity.com/210000/210500/210515/Products/4981258.jpg
 
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  • #32
Here is another one

2-two-docks-420.jpg
 
  • #33
A paradox about to be resolved...

[PLAIN]http://www.cottagedocks.com/images/docks/dock_sect_real_act_lg.jpg
 
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  • #36
Contrary to http://jyte.com/cl/a-paradox-is-not-a-pair-of-ducks.
 
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  • #37
Does anyone know why Tsu's photo says "Physicsforums" on it?

Now that is a real paradox! [a pair o'docs and a paradox]. Tsu said she has no idea how that happened.
 
  • #38
EnumaElish said:
Contrary to http://jyte.com/cl/a-paradox-is-not-a-pair-of-ducks.
You are a paradox? :eek:


No really, i agree with the above. The existence of the whole universe is a paradox. Reality is a paradox.

A better question - What is not a paradox?

We can't explain the universe and reality and so Everything is a paradox. This thread can stretch to infinity. Which is also a paradox.
 
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  • #39
WaveJumper said:
You are a paradox? :eek:
Actually I'm a Sagittarius, which is near the wild duck cluster (Messier 11). But a friend who's into astrology swears that I'm a Scorpio.
 
  • #40
TheStatutoryApe said:
This is mine...
http://altura.speedera.net/ccimg.catalogcity.com/210000/210500/210515/Products/4981258.jpg

Well, so YOUR pair of docs have a last name. Big. whoop. Mine are LOTS cuter! :smile:
 
  • #41
Um, unless those AREN'T Doc Martin's. :biggrin: I have no style so I just assumed...
 
  • #42
From George Carlin's HBO presentation:

"Legally drunk"

"Undisputed fighting champion" -- if it's undisputed what's all the fight about?
 
  • #43
Tsu said:
Um, unless those AREN'T Doc Martin's. :biggrin: I have no style so I just assumed...

Yes they are.
And no worries, my idea of style is "These are comfy shoes. I think I will wear them with everything." ;-)
 
  • #44
TheStatutoryApe said:
Yes they are.
And no worries, my idea of style is "These are comfy shoes. I think I will wear them with everything." ;-)

Wow, aren't they? I have to wear steel-toe boots at my work, and I wear Docs. Holy cow, are those the most comfy shoes you could put on you foot, or what? They are heavy, though...
 
  • #45
Not so much paradoxes, but a couple of really incongruous observations at local businesses.

There is a paving company about 25 minutes from here that a couple runs out of their house. The house is a dumpy-looking place 'way back from the road on a rutted, muddy (unpaved, of course) driveway. When I first saw the sign there, I thought it was a little free advertising for the company that had been hired to do the paving. Nope!

There is another small business much closer that is run out of a house. Again, the house is a shabby-looking dump, poorly maintained, with a gravel drive, and a yard that consists of dirt and immobile vehicles - just a perfect eyesore. What does that guy do? His sign says that he does home renovations and remodeling. He may do great work, but judging from the condition of his own place, I doubt it.
 
  • #46
TheStatutoryApe said:
This is mine...
http://altura.speedera.net/ccimg.catalogcity.com/210000/210500/210515/Products/4981258.jpg

I think I get this one: big big boots with thin-lugged city-walking soles.
 
  • #47
turbo-1 said:
Not so much paradoxes, but a couple of really incongruous observations at local businesses.

There is a paving company about 25 minutes from here that a couple runs out of their house. The house is a dumpy-looking place 'way back from the road on a rutted, muddy (unpaved, of course) driveway. When I first saw the sign there, I thought it was a little free advertising for the company that had been hired to do the paving. Nope!

There is another small business much closer that is run out of a house. Again, the house is a shabby-looking dump, poorly maintained, with a gravel drive, and a yard that consists of dirt and immobile vehicles - just a perfect eyesore. What does that guy do? His sign says that he does home renovations and remodeling. He may do great work, but judging from the condition of his own place, I doubt it.

The Cobbler's kids have no shoes...:wink:
 
  • #48
...and who among us can forget this pair of Dachs?

2ludz5j.jpg


(...erm, they are Dachs, aren't they...?)
 
  • #49
Flying dogs ! Eek!
 
  • #50
Chi Meson said:
I think I get this one: big big boots with thin-lugged city-walking soles.
No
(Unless you are being ironic?)
 

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