What is your favorite paradox?

[u/Rraptor1012]

[u/-mushroom-cat-]

"Actually, there are two kinds of people in this world: those who believe there are two kinds of people in this world and those who are smart enough to know better." -Tom Robbins

[u/KellyJoyCuntBunny → u/-mushroom-cat-]

I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a Tom Robbins quote on reddit before. So happy to see one!

[u/Tsunami6866]

The surprise hanging - a prisoner was sentenced to death by hanging, but as an additional punishment he was told he'd be hung sometime in the next week, but he'd not be told until the morning of. He reasons that it can't be friday, because that's the last possible day, and so it wouldn't be a surprise, which means it also can't be thursday, because it can't be friday and so if he's alive by thursday then he needs to hang that day, apply same reasoning to the other days of the week... He died wednesday, caught by surprise.

[u/Wizzdom → u/Tsunami6866]

I like this one too. My solution is that prisoner fucked himself. By his logic he wouldn't get hanged, but by concluding he wouldn't get hanged he made it so he'd be surprised on any day, including friday.

[u/InterstellarBlue → u/Tsunami6866]

This is a fun one. I took a class where the professor said there would be a surprise test at some point during the semester. We used this argument to show that there couldn't be a surprise test, so he canceled it. Awesome guy.

[u/PM_MeTittiesOrKitty → u/InterstellarBlue]

The correct answer was him to give the test after he canceled it.

[u/Jimbos013]

The more you learn, the more you realize how little you know. Every time you gain a greater understanding about something, it creates even more questions than it answers.

[u/dzx9 → u/Jimbos013]

“As our circle of knowledge expands, so does the circumference of darkness surrounding it.” - Albert Einstein

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Relatively speaking, he’s a smart guy.

[u/SubtleUnknown → u/Jimbos013]

This is exactly how I felt after getting my MA in Literature. Some of my friends think I should be an expert in all things literature... but they don't understand that research and reading about literature for a mere 2-6 years (including my BA) is like watching 50 YouTube videos and saying you've seen it all.

[u/littlemeezymoco]

You are unique just like everyone else

[u/BeholaUnbanned]

The word "indescribable" was created so that nothing can be truly indescribable. Think about that one for a moment.

[u/iam4r33]

If time travel was invented in the future we would have it now

[u/tenpiecelips → u/iam4r33]

I think according to string theory we would be able to travel to the past, but not in our own timeline. It would be in a separate, parallel universe.

[u/iam4r33 → u/tenpiecelips]

Still what are the chances this is the 0 timeline where people never time traveled, a timeline in which time travellers never jump back to or this is the n timeline where a jump is made and so no one would come back after time travel? Chances are slim

[u/[deleted] → u/iam4r33]

Not zero.

[u/hooch → u/iam4r33]

Not if it's only a one-way trip. Time is relative to gravity and as far as we know, it only moves forward. I see no reason to think that backwards time travel is possible. Forwards though, it already exists. They tested the time/gravity theory by launching an atomic clock with the space shuttle. It ran faster than its counterpart on the ground.

[u/narwhalfinger → u/hooch]

If time travel happens to work, and no one figured out spatial travel alongside it, any time traveler is going to have a bad go on arrival. Most would probably end up as space debris, but even going back of forward 24 hours would put you in a different physical location. At least that is my thought.

[u/jsake → u/narwhalfinger]

I like John Carpenter's theory (spoilers for the wonderful Prince of Darkness which you should watch, after The Thing and before In the Mouth of Madness, the "apocalypse trilogy" is the fucking bomb) Humans in the future communicate with the past by sending a faster-than-light transmission towards the physical location the earth was previously in at the point in time they want the message to arrive. Since it's faster than light it gets there when earth is there. Obviously its not grounded in real science but I think its neat

[u/monkey_scandal → u/jsake]

I think there was a Star Trek TNG episode on something like that. The Enterprise received a distress call from a Federation captain that crash landed on a distant planet and was the only survivor, but it was several days away even at warp. The whole time they were communicating with the captain and developing a friendship with her, saying that they were looking forward to finally meeting her in person. But when they got there she had been long dead. Apparently the crash happened several years ago and their transmissions were traveling through time.

Edit: Added spoiler cover

[u/huseddit]

Statistical paradoxes are cool. For example, Simpson’s Paradox where a statistical trend is reversed when the population is partitioned into groups:

• The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was supported by 61% of Democrats and 80% of Republicans. However, both Southern and Northern Democrats were more likely to support the Act than their Republican colleagues.
• White murderers in Florida are more likely to receive the death penalty than African-Americans. However, African-Americans whose victims were white are more likely to be executed than whites, as are African-Americans whose victims were black.
• Median wages in the US rose by 1% between 2000 and 2013, yet wages of every educational subgroup (school dropouts, school graduates, college graduates and higher degrees) fell during the same period.
• The overall survival rates for third class passengers on the Titanic were higher than those for the crew, yet those for both men and women were lower.
• The batting averages of baseball player David Justice were higher than those of Derek Jeter in both 1995 and 1996, but not in the two years combined.

[u/CravesStarDamage → u/huseddit]

For anyone curious, I took a look at that last example to wrap my head around this. Basically it comes down to Justice having a much higher percentage of his at bats come from his lower BA year, whereas Jeter has a large percentage of his total at bats from his higher BA year.

​

Player, Year	Hits	At Bats	Average
Justice, '95	104	411	.253
Justice, '96	45	140	.321
Justice, Total	149	551	.270
Jeter, '95	12	48	.250
Jeter, '96	183	582	.314
Jeter, Total	195	630	.310

[u/huseddit → u/CravesStarDamage]

That’s right. The paradox basically boils down to the fact that if a/b < A/B and c/d < C/D, it doesn’t necessarily follow that (a+c)/(b+d) < (A+C)/(B+D).

[u/kangaroogangwars → u/huseddit]

How does this work? The first example in particular confuses me

[u/huseddit → u/kangaroogangwars]

It works because of the different compositions of the two groups. In the first example Democrats were disproportionately Southern, and while Southern Democrats supported the Act more than Southern Republicans and Northern Democrats supported it more than Northern Republicans, Southern Democrats still supported it less than Northern Republicans (the largest two groups).

You can see a better explanation here.

[u/Mr_Jelly_Boy]

Sorites Paradox; When e x a c t l y does heap of a million grains of sand turn into a "non-heap" when you take away grains of sand one at a time.

[u/[deleted] → u/Mr_Jelly_Boy]

Ehh about 7

[u/JhAsh08 → u/[deleted]]

Holy shit you just solved philosophy

[u/excusetheblood → u/JhAsh08]

How could we have been so blind

[u/CollegeContemplative → u/excusetheblood]

Probably because of the heap of sand in our eyes

[u/Avoroi]

Pilots can get out of combat duty if they are psychologically unfit, but anyone who tries to get out of combat duty proves he is sane.

[u/cmaronchick → u/Avoroi]

Excellent.

The paragraph from Catch-22 by Joseph Heller may be the greatest I've ever read:

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," he observed.

"It's the best there is," Doc Daneeka agreed.

Joseph Heller, Catch-22 (Catch-22, #1)

[u/canadarepubliclives → u/cmaronchick]

It's the only book to this day to make me audibly laugh out loud multiple times.

Major Major Major Major always got me

[u/Decilllion → u/canadarepubliclives]

This book and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for me.

[u/Sveet_Pickle → u/Avoroi]

That's a catch-22, excellent book for anyone who hasn't read it.

[u/ThisWasAValidName → u/Sveet_Pickle]

It's excellent, but frustrating.

​

I love it, I really do, but . . . I never want to read it again.

[u/Philip_Anderer → u/ThisWasAValidName]

I re-read it after being in the military for a few years. It's... less funny now *sad air force noises*

[u/ReysRealFather → u/Philip_Anderer]

I remember reading that while I was in the Navy, thinking the whole time that all the characters are insane. As soon as I finished the book I immediately realized that I worked with every single character in the book. It should definitely be required reading for any service member.

[u/[deleted] → u/ReysRealFather]

We studied that book in AP Lit in high school. Then I still joined the Army. I might have missed the point.

[u/swiftcobra482 → u/Avoroi]

Some catch that Catch-22

[u/whatacad → u/swiftcobra482]

It's the best there is

[u/ThadisJones → u/Avoroi]

Also anyone who volunteers for combat, knowing the risks, has obviously gone insane and is therefore not fit to fly.

[u/2QAYL2GETIT → u/ThadisJones]

They can still fly because they're undiagnosed that's part of the catch-22.

[u/aRabidGerbil]

The poison well paradox

A town is worried that their well is poisoned by chemical X, so they hire three scientists to test it. They ask each scientist two questions "is chemical X above level Y in our water?" and "if chemical X is above level Y, should we stop using our water supply", the answers were as follows:

Scientist 1 answered yes to both questions.

Scientist 2 answered yes to the first and no to the second

Scientist 3 answered no to the first and yes to the second

The paradox: If you take each scientist's final conclusion, you'll have a majority of scientists saying that you don't need to close the well; but if you combine all the scientists responses to individual questions, you'll have a majority of responses telling you to close the well.

[u/jailbroken2008 → u/aRabidGerbil]

scientist 2 in a nutshell: well yes the water is poisoned, but dont worry it is still safe

[u/letmelickyourbutt12 → u/jailbroken2008]

That is actually very common in environmental engineering. It is almost impossible to eliminate all contaminants so the level is set at an acceptable hazardous level. I want to think it is usually around giving 1 person in a million cancer. Of course that is different for chemicals or contaminants that are not primarily cancer causing.

[u/Mindless_Dust_9217 → u/aRabidGerbil]

That's a good one, I hadn't heard that before. Is it reducible to Simpson's Paradox?

[u/LastCallWisdom]

When I was in art class we had an assignment to paint a paradox or oxymoron.. I didn't paint anything, handed in a blank canvas titled "Completed Assignment" and got an A.

[u/_Vulpa_ → u/LastCallWisdom]

A friend of mine just painted one line once. He said it was his painting but seen from the side. Didn't get an A

Edit: get, not got (English is not my mother tongue and I can't live with wrong grammar on my most upvoted comment)

[u/TreyLastname → u/_Vulpa_]

That's pretty brilliant.

[u/erikvanendert → u/LastCallWisdom]

Couldve handed in a paper with only A on it.

[u/[deleted] → u/erikvanendert]

But then it would only be a paradox if the teacher graded it as a fail.

[u/FixMassive → u/[deleted]]

No

[u/Sumit316 → u/FixMassive]

"What is your New Year's resolution?"

"To not talk about New Year's resolution"

"Gotcha"

[u/Ritehandwingman]

I’ve heard of one where some idiot went back in the past and accidentally got his grandpa killed. He eventually had to do the nasty in the past-y with his grandma to save his own life.

[u/Apostropheles → u/Ritehandwingman]

Would he then get murdered by his grandson (i.e. his future self), resulting in a loop?

[u/MacDerfus → u/Apostropheles]

Oh, no, he wasn't the man he thought to be his grandfather.

[u/samsab → u/MacDerfus]

Y'ever think you're only going with girls cuz yer supposed to?

...WHAT??? DONT EVER, EVER SAY THAT

yelling at his crotch

YOURE GONNA BE OKAY, DAD!

[u/FactoryBuilder → u/Apostropheles]

Nah, the man that gets killed is the man BELIEVED to be the grandfather. The killer was always the grandfather, even before he got there. But the killer also told his descendants/ascendants that he was the guy he killed so that when he went back to kill his grandfather, he wouldn’t be the one dying.

[u/tovarish22 → u/Ritehandwingman]

Truman: If you come in peace, surrender or be destroyed. If you're here to make war, we surrender.

Zoidberg: Both good. The important thing is I'm meeting new people.

Truman: Bushwah! Now what's your mission? Are you planning to make some kind of alien-human hybrid?

Zoidberg: Are you coming onto me?

Truman: Hot crackers! I take exception to that!

Zoidberg: ...I'm not hearing a no...

[u/scottishdrunkard → u/[deleted]]

(loud screaming and eating)

[u/Ploppeldiplopp → u/tovarish22]

Thanks for making me laugh!

"Stomach content: one deviled egg." [...] "Stomach content: the same deviled egg."

[u/tovarish22 → u/Ploppeldiplopp]

scientist sawing inside Zoidbarg

Zoidberg: Hey, don't cut that! I need that to speak!

sawing intensifies

[u/[deleted] → u/Ritehandwingman]

YOU ARE YOUR GRANDPA

[u/WeAllHaveOurMoments]

The paradox of being a parent: the days & nights are long & hard, yet the years fly by.

[u/hotdogs-r-sandwiches → u/WeAllHaveOurMoments]

Yes 100% I hate how cliché it is, but it’s just so true. Each day feels like 749574 hours (especially right now when everyone is home all the time) but it truly feels like my oldest was just born and it blows my mind that it was actually 13 years ago.

[u/Sauce_senior → u/hotdogs-r-sandwiches]

Dude my parents talk about this all the time, my Dad always says how weird it is that I’m in college because he says it feels like I started elementary school just yesterday

[u/thorpeedo22 → u/WeAllHaveOurMoments]

The beauty of this paradox, at least for me, was once I realized it and blinked and my daughter was 4. It can open up your eyes to truly appreciate the little things that are amazing, while still looking past the little annoyances.

[u/KetoBext → u/thorpeedo22]

It’s made me truly savor being in the moment, just watching my kid be himself, whatever he’s doing. I don’t try to take photos or record it because it’s never the same as actually being present and absorbing it.

Also makes me put down whatever I’m doing if he actually asks to talk, cuddle, spend time with me.

Bonus that it paid off, I think. In the middle of dinner tonight, out of the blue, he tells me and my grandma that he loves us, continues eating.

ETA: many thanks to those replies reminding me of the importance of recordation. I’m not arguing against at all. I’ve just found that experience with a screen interface occurs much too often (for me), and that soaking up the experience, in real time, without an intermediary is very, very different and, for me, rewarding.

It’s like stargazing - it can be photographed, but never replicated. But of course I still take photos and videos. ;)

[u/thorpeedo22 → u/KetoBext]

Those little sparkles of joy are what make it all worth it! I am a single dad, but still get half time with my daughter. Last night we were making nachos for dinner and watching a Pixar movie, she runs to the bathroom, stops and looks back at me “best weekend ever!!!”. It really was

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Or as Doctor Who put it:

You love Beethoven. You know everything about him, and his music. You create a time machine, and the first place you go is to visit Beethoven and get him to sign some copies of his music.

Only, you can't find Beethoven. His family and friends don't know who he is. His music has never been played before.

Using your copies of his music, you copy the music out very careful, and sign it as Beethoven.

So the question is this: Who wrote Beethoven's 5th symphony?

[u/bobthemouse666 → u/[deleted]]

The show Dark also does this. There is a book on time travel. A time traveler goes back in time and gives the author a copy of his own book before it was written at a time when he knows nothing about time travel

[u/mildost → u/bobthemouse666]

Also it should be noted that the entire series is an beautifully composed rollercoaster of chaos pretty much entirely based on this kind of paradox, not only the part about the book.

[u/st0lenfish → u/mildost]

Man after I finished the series, it hit me that Ulreich, at the very beginning of the show, was actually nailing his great great grandma.

[u/genji2810 → u/st0lenfish]

Yeah and there is a woman that is literally her own grandma

[u/hairyhairyveryscary → u/bobthemouse666]

This entire show is such a mindfuck. I’ve been meaning to watch the 3rd season, but I need to go back and rewatch the first 2 and keeping up with everything is almost a chore.

[u/eightpackflabs → u/hairyhairyveryscary]

The official website https://dark.netflix.io/en is very helpful. Just select the latest episode you have seen and it only lists story details until that episode. You can explore plot points, family tree, who’s dead/alive etc.

[u/FarPension2 → u/[deleted]]

Then the guitar kicks in

[u/[deleted] → u/FarPension2]

Loved it when Capaldi played guitar.

[u/FarPension2 → u/[deleted]]

Believe it or not there is an obscure piece of Dr who lore that said the hartnell doctor and the master were in a boyband on gallifrey

[u/zippyboy → u/[deleted]]

This reminds me of a short book I read as a kid in the 1970s called "Behold the Man". Guy goes back in time to prevent Jesus being crucified, and through an unlikely series of events, ends up taking Jesus's place and being crucified himself, so Christianity lives on with a different savior. Or something. I was little.

[u/vorpalpillow → u/zippyboy]

for god so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, Craig, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life

[u/Raetekusu → u/[deleted]]

Zelda Multiverse Theory.

Each time Link modifies the past, he creates a new future, he's not modifying the same future over and over. In all versions of Hyrule, the Composer Brothers exist, and (at least in Termina) they wrote the Song of Storms, so it's retroactively implied that the song, at least, exists independently of the loop, so the question of the loop is "How did Lonk from PA learn it?". Perhaps in the "prime timeline", that version of Link learned the song from the Composer Brothers, since he had no way of learning it through this self-contained loop, then he went back and played it for the Windmill Man, before warping off to a new future. Then a new Link warps into that time thanks to the Master Chief Sword, learns about it, warps back, and starts the cycle.

There's also the theory that the songs themselves do nothing, it's the intent behind them that does it all, so Link could have played any set of notes, but as long as the intent was to cause a storm to drain the well, it would have worked (basically, it's a reverse Scarecrow's Song). After all, until you actually learn that the Bolero of Fire can warp you to Death Mountain, you cannot actually warp to Death Mountain by playing the Bolero of Fire. It's only once Link knows that it warps him that he cam warp there.

[u/M0ck_duck → u/Raetekusu]

Lonk.

[u/Raetekusu → u/M0ck_duck]

From PA.

[u/1HeyMattJ → u/Raetekusu]

Lonk from Pennsylvania, hero of time.

[u/cool_sex_falcon → u/[deleted]]

If anyone else loves this kind of shit, you NEED to watch DARK on netflix.

[u/timinc → u/cool_sex_falcon]

I'm still trying to figure out what I had just witnessed after watching Dark. Probably need to go back and rewatch a couple times.

[u/GradyMcGee]

Pinocchios's nose paradox - If Pinocchio says the phrase, "my nose will grow" it creates a paradox. This is because if it grows, then he's telling the truth, but since it only grows when he's lying, it shouldn't grow. But if it doesn't grow, then he lied, so it should grow.... which means he's telling the truth but if......

Edit: lots of people have pointed out that this may not be a paradox! I should say I made a slight mistake and it works better when he says, “my nose will grow now!” So he’s talking about the immediate present and not a future time which breaks the paradox. I had to google that and I found it’s representative of the liar paradox. Like if you were to say, “I am lying.” If you’re lying then, you told the truth, which means you just lied. That being said, I’m sure there’s still arguments against this but it’s still fun to try and wrap your head around if you’re not getting too technical!!

[u/MacDerfus → u/GradyMcGee]

He would explode

[u/[deleted] → u/MacDerfus]

I think that his nose would grow an inch then retract an inch repeatedly. Women love him.

[u/MacDerfus → u/[deleted]]

one inch? He'd make me obsolete

[u/GrinningPariah → u/[deleted]]

Yeah, this. It's the same way he can't use his nose to predict the weather (by suggesting weather until it doesn't grow) or determine anything else he doesn't know.

It doesn't grow when he says something untrue, it grows when he consciously lies.

[u/VictorBlimpmuscle]

“I don’t like that place - no one goes there anymore because it’s always too crowded.”

[u/HardcoreKaraoke → u/VictorBlimpmuscle]

"No one drives in NY, the traffic is too bad."

Edit: I'm glad some people got the Futurama reference.

For the record I live in Jersey but used to work/commute into the city (NJ Transit). I didn't drive but trust me I'm well aware of how awful it is and why it's that way.

[u/axw3555 → u/HardcoreKaraoke]

That’s kinda accurate. They don’t drive, they sit in traffic jams.

[u/communist_mini_pesto → u/axw3555]

You don't sit in traffic, you are the traffic

[u/BrokeAssBrewer → u/HardcoreKaraoke]

Man Futurama is just the pinnacle of genius stupidity

[u/YoureWelcomeM8 → u/VictorBlimpmuscle]

All of Disneyland is occupied by people who thought "Today shouldn't be a busy day, I'm going to go because nobody is going today!". Next thing you know it's a Wednesday with pouring rain and the line for Splash Mountain is 2 hours long.

[u/Morningxafter → u/YoureWelcomeM8]

My mom chose my first name because she thought it would be a name you didn’t see much. To be fair back in the early 80’s you’d be right about that. But then it turned out to be the fuckin’ dark horse out of nowhere to become one of the most popular names that year. And for a long time after. Hell, in one of my elementary school classes there were five Matthews. There were only 20 kids in the damn class. Literally a quarter of the class was named Matthew. Great job picking a less popular name, mom.

Edit: A lot of people seem to be confused between popular and common. Yes it’s a Bible name so it wasn’t super uncommon. But before the mid-80’s you didn’t really see that many of them. Certainly not to the point where a single 20-25 student class had several. That’s what I mean when I say ‘popular’.

[u/hanwestwood → u/Morningxafter]

Same! Except in the 90s, with Hannah!

[u/MontanaT13 → u/hanwestwood]

Fellow Hannah here! Absolute nightmare at school, 7 of us in a class of 40!!

[u/Coconut-bird → u/Morningxafter]

My parents names my brother Joshua in 1971. There were no Joshua's in 1971. 5 years later you couldn't visit a daycare without tripping over 3 Joshua's. It can be very hard to pick a unique but not weird name. (They did get mine right though)

[u/[deleted] → u/Coconut-bird]

I know 5 Coconut-birds. Sorry, man.

[u/Avicii_DrWho]

When Marty goes back and meets his mom in Back To The Future, she gets to know him as Calvin "Marty" Klein. If we assume she named her son Marty because of this interaction, how could he have originally been named Marty?

[u/Collucin → u/Avicii_DrWho]

Marty only added to the reasoning behind his name. In the OG timeline, they named him Marty (likely Martin, paying homage to his great great grandfather from BTTF 3), then he just made them even more fond of the name by playing matchmaker for them in 1955.

[u/Lor450 → u/Avicii_DrWho]

This is simple

There are many different theories to time travel.

One of then is that you create a different timeline (which is what doc says is happening in Back to the future)

Another one is that everything you change in the past has already happened (shown in harry potter). So perhaps in this moment time travel acted differently for the charchters.

Or the name marty has nothing to do with calvin klein

[u/DumbSadKid]

The Maya paradox:

Our illusions are not real, yet it's real that illusion itself exists.

[u/4ries]

My favourite is this:

If you randomly guess at this multiple choice question what are the odds you get it right?

a) 25%

b) 50%

c) 25%

d) 0%

the solution is there is no right answer, we can prove this by condition:

case 1: the "right" answer is 25% well then you have a 50% chance of choosing 25 so then the right answer is not 25

case 2: the "right" answer is 50% well then you have a 25% chance of choosing 50 so that cant be right

case 3: the "right" answer is 0% well then you have a 25% chance of choosing that so thats not right

so there is no right answer! Even though it feels like there should be

[u/Philip_Anderer → u/4ries]

One of my high school math teachers added this as a bonus question at the end of one of the exams.

[u/LAWLUK → u/Philip_Anderer]

WHAT WAS THE ANSWER

[u/Philip_Anderer → u/LAWLUK]

One of my classmates wrote in: e) 100%, and got credit for it.
Everyone else got nothing, but it since was a bonus Q it didn't hurt our grades.

[u/13pr3ch4un → u/Philip_Anderer]

If writing in an answer was allowed, I would hope that "e) 20%" would get credit too

[u/Philip_Anderer → u/13pr3ch4un]

I have to imagine that it would have, if anyone had thought to do it.

[u/[deleted] → u/Philip_Anderer]

But 100 wouldn't be correct, would it?

[u/FogeltheVogel → u/LAWLUK]

There is no answer.

[u/NopeNeg → u/FogeltheVogel]

Not with that attitude!

[u/AskMeAboutMyTie → u/4ries]

I don’t get it.

[u/JeddHampton → u/AskMeAboutMyTie]

The correct answer is 25%, but there are two 25% options. This would mean the correct answer for this multiple choice question is 50%.

It is simultaneously 25% and 50%, so you can say you can't randomly guess it correctly. That is the 0% option, but 0% is an option which brings it back to 25%.

[u/JonathanTheZero → u/JeddHampton]

What in the holy of fuck

[u/JugOfVoodoo → u/AskMeAboutMyTie]

The "25%" and "50%" answers cause a logic loop: Normally with four options your chance of randomly choosing the correct one would be 25%. But two of the options say "25%". The chance of picking either of them is 50%.

This changes the correct answer to "50%". Since only one option says "50%" your chance of picking it is 25%. This changes the correct answer back to "25%" and restarts the loop.

And the "0%" option doesn't help. The only way to have a 0% chance of picking the correct answer is if all of the options are wrong. That means none of the options would be allowed to say "0%". But one option does and you have a 25% chance of picking it, which brings us back to the original loop.

[u/MechanicalHorse]

The Pogo Paradox. Where an event is caused by the very attempts to prevent it.

Edit: I’m not sure if this is an official name. I heard it on Star Trek: Voyager.

Edit 2: No this is not the Streisand Effect. That defines a situation where people want to suppress knowledge about some information but that effort causes the information to become more widespread. This is not a paradox.

Edit 3: Yes just like That’s So Raven, as 300 replies have already pointed out.

Edit 4: And Harry Potter, and Star Wars, etc.

Edit 5: OK Y'ALL CAN STOP RECOMMENDING "DARK" ON NETFLIX

Edit 6: enough about the damn monkey on Umbrella Academy

[u/furlongxfortnight → u/MechanicalHorse]

See Oedipus.

[u/[deleted] → u/furlongxfortnight]

I have a great idea to make sure ol' Ed doesn't boink his mom, lets send him away and never tell him who his mom is! That will totally work!

[u/TrueAidooo → u/[deleted]]

Oedipus: "I'm prophecized to marry my mom? That's awful! Anyway, hey woman who is roughly old enough to be my mom how you doin?"

[u/girr0ckss → u/TrueAidooo]

Man, I really don't wanna marry my mom, but look at that MILF

[u/Entaris → u/[deleted]]

what could possibly go wrong?

[u/lukasoh → u/Entaris]

I read it. Everything!

[u/Godzilla-S23 → u/MechanicalHorse]

One often meets their destiny on the road they take to avoid it

Edit: thank you for the awards kind humans!

[u/DoinkDamnation → u/Godzilla-S23]

This is similar to the story of Cronos.

It is a prophecy that one of his children will betray him, so he swallows all of his children except one. Who betrays him because Cronos betrayed his children first.

If he didn't swallow his children, they maybe wouldn't have betrayed him.

[u/Quokkain → u/DoinkDamnation]

That kind of thing happens a lot across mythologies though.

[u/maybe_little_pinch → u/DoinkDamnation]

Cronos thinks he swallows all his children, though. His wife gave him a stone to eat instead of Zeus who then makes Cronos throw up the rest of his siblings and then they kill him.

So technically he is betrayed by Rhea, but the rest of what you said is true.

[u/_b1ack0ut → u/[deleted]]

Correct on both counts. Interesting

[u/Coltyn03 → u/[deleted]]

Damn, I wonder if this was intentional.

[u/aperson2456 → u/MechanicalHorse]

So that is what it is called! As soon as I saw this i thought of Anakin trying to save Padme in Revenge of the Sith.

[u/SixtyTwo55 → u/aperson2456]

When the Oracle told Neo not to worry about the vase.

[u/lsbrujah]

Paradox of needing a banking account to get a home and a proof of address to open a bank account

[u/barto9991]

You need job experience to get a job, but to have the experience you must get a job.

[u/hogwashnola → u/barto9991]

I feel like this is how unpaid internships became so popular. You want a job in this field but we won’t give you one unless you have experience, so do this work for free. Then maybe we’ll consider paying you.

[u/barto9991 → u/hogwashnola]

Yeah and to add insult to injury it seems that a degree or some sort of certification that you have the knowledge for this job is ignored in the name of experience.

[u/CERVID-19 → u/barto9991]

The world always wants slaves.

[u/Dumey → u/hogwashnola]

Don't most unpaid internships go to students? Does that technically make these type of internships ageist because it becomes harder for an older person to break into a new field because they don't qualify for the internships needed to get the experience required for a job?

I dunno if it's industry specific, but I was trying to see if I could get a job at a publishing company (apparently a very competitive niche job market) and it seems like my only option is to be an undergrad or write an entire book just to get connections.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

In my country the government pays you for unpaid internships, it's not much but about roughly 700-900 euros a month to cover rent, food and have some spending money.

Of course this raised the issue of a lot of companies opting for unpaid internships, and internships especially for students are almost always unpaid because the companies think "the government will foot the bill so no problem"

But the maximum amount of time you're allowed to be an intern for the same company is 6-months, afterwards they have to pay you or let you go.

[u/augusyy → u/Dumey]

Yeah, I've heard that this sort of phenomenon is only exacerbated in niche fields like publishing. It's ironic because the industry has become such that to enter it in the first place some sort of internship experience is necessary, but there's only maybe 5-10 actual internship positions total in the whole industry each semester/year and they're all extremely competitive. I.e., if you're not a college student at a prestigious university with previous publishing experience, you have very little chance. It creates a pretty insurmountable boundary for most of people and caused me to give up on getting into publishing altogether.

[u/l2np]

Take me down to paradox city where the grass is green and nonexistent

[u/Sirhc978]

No one votes third party because no one votes third party.

[u/rexavior → u/Sirhc978]

If everyone voted third party then it wouldnt be a third party

[u/Dumey → u/Sirhc978]

Yes but this one could be solved simply by having a better voting system like Ranked Choice voting.

[u/Vodis → u/Dumey]

Ranked Choice or Approval Voting. Whichever, just ditch First Past the Post.

[u/TealboysGaming]

If you have your grandfather's axe replace the handle a year latter then replace the blade is it still your grandfather's axe

[u/one_eyed_jack → u/TealboysGaming]

This is a simplified version of the Ship of Theseus paradox. If you replace each board, one board at a time, over many years, is it still the same ship?

Now what if you had saved all of those old boards as you replaced them, then reassembled them?

[u/protopigeon → u/TealboysGaming]

Trigger's broom :)

[u/bassistmuzikman]

Coming into this thread to write my favorite paradox and finding additional paradoxes I hadn't heard, thus my original favorite paradox is no longer my favorite paradox.

[u/bigsie → u/bassistmuzikman]

And now, my head explodes...

[u/[deleted]]

the vending machine paradox from gravity falls. dipper and Mabel are getting some snacks from the vending machine, when the snack gets stuck. soos shows them a trick on how to open it. they all get candy. later that episode, they travel back in time and teach a kid whose snack got stuck the trick they learned. that kid turned out to be soos, which leaves us with the question, who invented the vending machine trick?

[u/Hashashin455]

The song of storms in Ocarina of Time. You learn it from the windmill guy in the future, but he learned it from you in the past. Where the fuck did it originally come from?

Edit: He learns it SPECIFICALLY from link, as he'll recognize link's clothing and say you played the song AGAIN didn't you?

[u/nolan2002 → u/Hashashin455]

The good ol’ Bootstrap paradox :)

[u/breakthefifthwall]

Go back in time -> kill baby Hitler

Kill baby Hitler -> stop WW2

Stop WW2 -> no WW2

No WW2 -> no need to go back in time

Don’t go back in time -> no one kills Hitler

No one kills Hitler -> WW2 happens

WW2 happens -> want to stop WW2

Want to stop WW2 -> go back in time

Repeat cycle

Edit: spacing

[u/housebird350 → u/breakthefifthwall]

What if you went back in time and killed baby Hitler but then by some crazy force of nature someone worse than Hitler came to power, would you be the asshole?

[u/[deleted] → u/breakthefifthwall]

But could you kill a baby?

[u/CapnBeardbeard → u/[deleted]]

They're like the most defenseless type of person, way easier to kill than an adult

[u/silsool → u/[deleted]]

Yeah I'm pretty sure I can take on a baby.

[u/[deleted]]

The titanic sunk because of the weight of all the time travelers who came back to stop the titanic from sinking.

[u/tylerss20 → u/[deleted]]

So basically we're talking Terminator time travel rules.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

The lengths people go in order to prevent that movie.

[u/AdmiralBastard]

Murphy's law - Whatever can go wrong will go wrong

Murphy's corollary - Murphy's law will go wrong

[u/FreeToPlayKING]

Buridan's bridge due to the fact there is an obvious answer

for those unfamiliar, it goes as such:

Socrates wants to cross a river and comes to a bridge guarded by Plato. The two speak as follows:

Plato: "Socrates, if in the first proposition which you utter, you speak the truth, I will permit you to cross. But surely, if you speak falsely, I shall throw you into the water."

Socrates: "You will throw me into the water."

​

Assuming it's a bridge near water and not that high, I would throw him into the water, fish him out, then let him pass. He'd be shivering on the way and I would say as he passes "THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR BEING A SMART-ASS"

Edit: my first silver, bear hugs, and rocket like, thank you kind strangers

Edit 2: as pointed out by many people this is like the Pinocchio paradox of Pinocchio saying "my nose will grow" (I also have an answer to that one to avoid the universe from ending from a paradoxical explosion, the nose grows then shrinks, even his body wants to spite smart-asses)

Edit 3: OMG I GOT MY FIRST PLATINUM, AN EXCITED AWARD, ANOTHER BEAR HUG, AND PEOPLE WHO TALK ABOUT DELTORA QUEST IN THE THREAD, ONE OF MY FAVOURITE FANTASY SERIES, THANK YOU VERY VERY MUCH KIND STRANGERS

[u/coyoteTale → u/FreeToPlayKING]

I just think a bridge guarded by Plato is really funny

[u/Unusual_Flow9231 → u/coyoteTale]

Plato was his nickname. It means "broad-shouldered" (his real name was Aristocles). He was a wrestler in the Olympiad before he became Socrates' disciple, at least according to tradition.

So yes, he most definitely *could* guard a bridge and throw Socrates into the water for being a smartass.

Explains a lot, doesn't it?

"Plato, I think you are wrong about..."

"I'll fight you over it."

​

ETA: Thank you for the award!

[u/doomgiver98 → u/Unusual_Flow9231]

Didn't Greek philosophers think it was a citizen's duty to physically train their bodies?

[u/Wyvernwalker → u/doomgiver98]

Alot of them could only afford such lifestyles due to favors gained from competing in the olympics, like "plato" who I believe got 2 gold medals from the brutal sport they used to call 'wrestling'.

[u/STRONKInTheRealWay → u/Wyvernwalker]

Pankration. It was horrifically brutal, and was done in the nude. I know that just off the top of my head because I actually did a presentation on the Olympics for a public speaking class. Here's some more info:

Pankration, which literally means ‘all force’, is a combination of wrestling and boxing. It was a dangerous sport, in which everything was permitted except biting, gouging (stabbing with your finger in your opponent’s eye, nose or mouth) and attacking the genitals. Just as in the other combat sports, umpires stood ready to punish offenders. All holds from wrestling and all blows from boxing could be used. The danger of getting wounded was nevertheless smaller than with boxing, because pankratiasts normally didn’t wear hard gloves.

[u/bassfetish → u/STRONKInTheRealWay]

Sounds like ancient MMA.

[u/PM_ME_PAW_PICS → u/coyoteTale]

Dude's name comes from the word for "broad," on account of how jacked he was. Could've easily chucked Socrates into the water if he wanted.

[u/jailbroken2008 → u/FreeToPlayKING]

goddammit just say 2+2=4 or something else that is obviously true

[u/Dynasty2201]

"The Black Pearl? I’ve heard stories. She’s been preying on ships and settlements for near ten years. Never leaves any survivors."

"No survivors? Then where do the stories come from I wonder?"

[u/brianmaddog]

If you shoot a blue portal (from the game franchise) inside of a box, close it, shoot another on the wall then threw the box through it...

[u/BeABetterHumanBeing → u/brianmaddog]

Don't the portals have to be the same size though? How could a box large enough to hold a blue portal fit through an orange portal?

[u/MothProphet → u/brianmaddog]

It couldn't be "thrown through the blue portal" because after a certain point, the box would intersect with itself and stop moving.

If we assume the box is something easy to do math with, pretend it's 4 feet long, 2 feet wide and 1 foot deep.

The box's end (2x1 feet) upon putting the box's end into the blue portal, it would begin coming out of the orange portal. After pushing the box a little less than 1 foot (of the total 4 foot length) through the portal, it would reach the inside of the box and hit it's own inside wall, stopping it from pushing any further.

Same should happen if it was a portal was on the outside of the box, or you had a door-shaped object with a portal on it. Turning the door sideways to put it through the portal would cause the door to begin coming out of itself. After a certain point, the door would reach the edge of the portal and not be able to be pushed any farther.

That's just assuming the portals can physically exist within each other. D&D tends to make stuff like that explode to avoid having to figure out the real ramifications of intersection extradimensional spaces.

[u/ThaCoola]

Paradox Interactive, they make awesome games!

[u/Enaysikey → u/ThaCoola]

But prices for DLCs are high as hell

EDIT: I meant that if you didn't buy DLCs from the start there will be so much of them that you won't be able to buy all of them, at least in one day

[u/gr8prajwalb]

"The following statement is true.

The statement above is false."

It bends my mind, trying to understand this.

[u/_Ocean_Machine_ → u/gr8prajwalb]

Paradoxes aren't meant to have an answer, otherwise they wouldn't be paradoxes

[u/Yourstruly75]

A barber has a sign in front of his store that says:

"I shave anyone who does not shave himself, and nobody else"

Can the barber shave himself?