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People Break Down The Best Paradoxes They Know

Who likes having their brains tickled?


These paradoxes aren't going to wreck the universe (Loki says "What's up?") but they will give you something to think about for the rest of the day. Got a boring boss or a small child who won't stop talking about their favorite character from Paw Patrol? Give these a shot.

Reddit user, u/Exia174, wanted to know how to break their brain when they asked:

What are some paradoxes that make your brain hurt?

Starting with the basics, a good paradox has to be able to loop backwards on itself, infinitely creating a situation that will never resolve itself.

Everyone Watched "Loki," Right?

"Make a time machine and kill your grandfather. Your dad isn't born and so you aren't born. You can't make the time machine meaning your grandfather isn't killed and your dad was born and so you were born and it loops. Forever. Never ending"

Dr_Strange_Jnr

"Hence the "creation of a parallel universe" theory. The OG universe/timeline in which your grandfather is still alive exists, but now so does a second one, beginning from the moment where you go back in time. In one of those timelines/universes, the main of which is the one where your grandpapi is alive, with the other being a branch indirectly created by you, in which you do not exist, since your grandpapi died before having a kid."

AjeebMaut

Everyone Watched "WandaVision," Right?

"If you slowly replaced a ship with different parts, would it remain the same ship?"

Gamer1032

"This axe has been in the family for two hundred years. The handle has been replaced three times and the head five times."

reversehead

Everyone Played "Ocarina of Time," Right?

"adult Link learns the Song of Storms from the man in the windmill, who is angry because a kid played it once and messed everything up."

"Link goes back in time to play the song as young Link and becomes the kid who messes everything up."

"Where the hell does the Song of Storms come from?"

endriago97

"The good ol' bootstrap paradox."

DraconicLore

On the other hand, a good paradox should be complete with an impossible situation with no resolution.

Frustrating? Sure. Fun to try to solve?

No. Not always.

That's. What. I. TRIED.

"Password incorrect - change password - you can't use the same password"

Silymorn

"It was your password 2 or 3 passwords ago."

burnmelt

Is Time A Linear Thing?

"That there had to be a beginning to the universe, but what came before the beginning? What came before that? Don't give me Big Bang. Something led up to that too. There had to be a beginning but at the same time there couldn't have ever been a beginning."

Superbad1990

"It's not as simple as time being a linear thing without beginning or end. If you allow for time not existing prior to the Big Bang, this particular paradox goes away. Time itself is a very slippery thing to conceptualise once you dig into it."

thermidorthelobster

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What Do You Want Me To Do?

"as a chid being scolded and told:"

"mind your own business"

"and"

"you only think about yourself"

"so which is it? what do you want me to do???"

toasterbathparty

And then there's these, paradoxes so tightly wound around themselves you'd be hard pressed to find any kind of logical outcome. Unless, of course, you already know the answer, right?

There Might Actually Be A Way Around This One...

"To get experience you need job. To get job you need experience."

Super-Noodles

"As someone who has been on the hiring end of a lot of these decisions, I like to give this little tidbit when I see people bring this up. When a prospective employer is describing the requirements to fill an open position, don't think of that list as an absolute list of non-negotiable requirements. Think of it as a list of preferences for their ideal candidate. Ideally, everyone wants a new employee with experience. In reality, and especially nowadays with the employment market, sometimes the best applicant doesn't have much, or even any, experience, and that's okay from an employer's perspective."

"As long as they have an applicant that they like and think can do the job (and has the necessary licensure if needed), that's enough. So, if you see a job you want, but don't meet all the "requirements," apply anyway. If you are asked about the lack of experience in a specific area in an interview, explain what you do know about it (from reading online), explain how you are eager to learn more, and describe any tangentially-related experience you might have. You will be pleasantly surprised by the opportunities this approach opens up in your job hunt."

MyWifeDontKnowItsMe

The Data Never Lies, Right?

"Simpson's paradox is one I struggle to fully wrap my head around. The basic idea is that a bunch of groups can all show one trend, but when combined, show the opposite trend. It makes sense in simple contrived examples, but when it comes to actually spotting it and fully considering the implications, my brain starts to stop working."

Deracination

"One real-world example was SAT scores in the United States in the late 20th century."

"People started panicking in the early '80s because average SAT scores showed a downward trend, leading to the idea that public schools in the U.S. were failing."

"Turns out, if you broke down students into subgroups like race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, academic performance, etc, the average scores of each subgroup were actually improving."

"Average scores as a whole were getting lower because, since college was getting more accessible, more students from traditionally lower-scoring subgroups were taking the SAT - e.g. students from poor households, students with mediocre grades, etc. The supposed crisis did not exist."

ActualGiantPenguin

Dang...

"What would happen if Pinnochio said, "my nose will grow now"?

StrangerUsed7905

Life isn't always easy to navigate.

But sometimes that makes it more fun. Find your own answers and break through.

Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

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We all have that moment where someone we know says something so completely absurd, the only response we think of is 'WTF is wrong with you?'

Sometimes, it's something woefully inaccurate that you can't wrap your head around the fact that someone believes that.

Othertimes, it's something completely offensive and you regret your association with that person.

My college roommate was a girl I knew from my high school. I didn't know her too well, but we had some big things in common, so I figured it'd be fun to live with her.

This girl was half-Korean and talked a lot about racist people. At first, I let her rant, figuring maybe she or someone in her family faced some racism. I faced some myself, and I agreed with most of the things she said about racists. Eventually, however, I realized she was equating the word 'racist' with the word 'white.'

I spoke to her once, telling her she can't use 'racist' and 'white' interchangeably. She agreed to stop doing that, but within a few days, she started doing it again. She was a very bright girl, so I was a little concerned about this, especially since her own dad was white and was possibly the nicest man in the world. Not to mention, this made her and her siblings half-white too. Did that mean they were all half-racist?

I stuck by her for a while, but when she started saying things about what she wanted to do to racist people (once again using the word 'white' instead of 'racist'), I realized I couldn't be around her anymore. She couldn't talk about anything else after a while, and every time she spoke, I wanted to say, 'WTF is wrong with you?'

We did not room together the next year.

Redditors have stories similar to mine (and some even crazier), and they are eager to share.

It all started when a Redditorasked:

"What did the person do/say that made you go "what the f**k is wrong with you?"

How To End A Friendship

"In college I used to kill time between classes hanging out with a guy who was from the same redneck county as myself. We didn’t really have much else in common, but he was nice enough and seemed eager to socialize so I figured why not. I wasn’t overly social myself and didn’t know a whole lot of people."

"One day we decided to go somewhere off-campus, and he drove us. While driving, on an interstate mind you, he proceeds to show me his handgun that he kept in his truck - not in a menacing way, but in a “Ain’t that cool?” way."

"I was not immediately frightened, but I respect firearms enough to recognize we are going like 60-70mph on an interstate in daylight, and nothing good can happen in this scenario. I calmly asked him to put it away because I was not comfortable in this situation at all. He then tells me “Oh it’s not loaded” and presses the gun to his head before pulling the trigger."

"Thank f**k he was right, but still it was a wild and frightening display of reckless disregard for his own life and mine for that matter in the event that he’d accidentally killed himself while driving us. I didn’t hang out with him much after that, certainly didn’t get in a car with him."

– omjf23

"“It’s not loaded” famous last words of many an idiot."

– GloInTheDarkUnicorn

The Worst Kind Of People

"When my dad was in the nursing home, they weren't running certain expenses, like ambulance rides, through his insurance. When I took over his financials, he was tens of thousands in medical debt that shouldn't have ever been charged to him in the first place. He was in numerous collections, and his credit score was tanked."

"When I complained to the nursing home director, he said, "Well, it's not like he's going to be buying a house or a car!" Then he laughed."

"My dad was paralyzed from the waist down and needed lifelong care, so he was never going to leave the nursing home. Even though he was technically correct, I gave him the "WTF is wrong with you look." Then I complained to HIS boss and he got canned a couple a weeks later. My dad's insurance was fixed pretty quick, too."

– MNWNM

"“Sorry, what was funny about that? Could you please explain.”"

– v3n0mat3

...Seriously?

"MIL told my wife she should divorce me bc I googled whether a lasagna should be covered with foil while cooking."

– Struggle-Silent

"This is my first laugh of the thread lmao wtf."

– koreantrvp

"It actually ruined this entire trip. It was at my BIL’s wedding, which was only close family (siblings + parents) and they had the caterer make a lasagna for an evening dinner."

"Father of the bride was gonna pop it in the oven and asked if it should be covered. I googled lasagna cooking instructions and said yes it should be covered and cooked at this temp. MIL said absolutely not!"

"Me and the father of the bride kinda gave each other a look and he covered it. MIL was furious and texted my wife that I was an a hole and she should divorce me before we had kids."

– Struggle-Silent

Hostile Work Environment

"Boss at old job told the team we needed to ‘get used to a healthy level of conflict, fear and anxiety in the workplace.’ I dipped so fast after that."

– Prestigious-Energy69

"Similarly, a boss told me that I owed him my loyalty because he was paying me."

– Kylearean

How To End A Relationship

"A girl I was with while we were still together just looked at me while I was driving to her house and said.” You know I would get over you faster than you’d get over me” I was like …… Tf did you just say?"

– omega91301

"Huh. And just like that I'm over you."

– Pineapple_Spenstar

"Honestly, that would absolutely do it for me. When I was younger, I would be stupid and hurt and argue. I'm past 50 and I got no time for that nonsense."

– Terpsichorean_Wombat

There Are Other Ways To Stave Off Boredom

"I was DD for some buddies who wanted to go to a particular dance club in Baltimore. They're all hammered, it's too loud and we've been there for several hours. Casually an older woman next to me chats me up and notices my eyes are nearly crossing from boredom. I explained what I was doing there and casually (stupidly) mentioned I'm a bit bored. This psycho BITES ME on the chest! Afterward says "Well ya ain't bored now, are ya??""

– Mike7676

"Well, were you bored after that?"

– DontWannaSayMyName

"I must say, I was not!"

– Mike7676

That Goes Both Ways!

"I'm a man who works with kids, and when I started this job, I was talking to one of my old coworkers about how every once in a while I'll get weird looks for being a man working with kids and my coworker said I deserved it because some men can't be trusted with kids. I was shocked and she went on to say that I did it to myself and deserve to be questioned about it. I immediately stopped talking to her."

– Dolhedew

"What? What in the actual f**k? Doesn’t she know there are women who can’t be trusted with kids?"

– Anonymoosehead123

That Escalated Quickly

"The lady that accused my kids of cutting the line. (They hadn't, I was watching). When I went to ask her what was wrong, she told me to go back to my own country with that sh*t. (I was born in Massachusetts.)"

"The line was to pet dogs at a Renaissance Fair."

– pasafa

Everything All At Once

"While alone with a coworker, he told me that "women in the work place will lead to the decay of the fabric of society" to me. A woman. He also asked me out, got an attitude when I didn't say yes and continues to walk around with huge incel energy. He always complains that he has no one to go home to yet refuses to look at himself as a possible reason."

– Nopeferatu31

"Sounds like they should learn something from the phrase, "if you meet one a**hole, they're the a**hole. If everyone you meet is an a**hole, you're the a**hole.""

– tmpope123

Ouch!

"I told a coworker my wife had died."

"Her response: "You're one of those bald middle aged guys with a dead wife.""

"Me: "Yeah.""

– WalrusCello

"I want to think this was a wholesome thought that came out wrong. An awkward attempt at dark humor."

– ThisUsernameIsTook

*Cringing*

"Had an otherwise normal co-worker who was completely convinced windmills will cause the earth to stop spinning."

– Shadowmant

"WINDMILLS DO NOT WORK THAT WAY! GOOD NIGHT!"

– Torvaun

These are all crazy 'WTF is wrong with you' stories, but that last one blew my mind in 'how is it possible people think that could be true' sort of way!

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