"What is your favorite paradox?" ––– This was today's burning question from Redditor zurg21, who reminded us just why we have a fascination for the seemingly absurd or self-contradictory.
"You receive..."
GiphyThe Bootstrap Paradox
You receive a strange machine and a note that says "This is a time machine, recreate the time machine and send the machine back in time to the day you received it (today)." Bewildered, you set to work to recreate the time machine. When you are done and have tested it, you send the original machine and the note back in time to the day you received it.
You didn't create the machine you received from yourself, where did it come from?
"Could Jesus..."
The Homer Simpson paradox: Could Jesus microwave a burrito so hot that he himself could not eat it?
"Side A..."
The Paper Message
Side A: The message on the other side is the truth
Side B: The message on the other side is a lie.
"Camus..."
Camus regards The Absurd as a paradox. Humans are constantly driven to seek meaning in a world that doesn't appear to have any.
"The sequence..."
The Galileo paradox
The sequence of square numbers: 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, etc clearly shows that there are a lot fewer square numbers than there are non-square numbers, as the distance between them gets increasingly longer.
But any number can be multiplied by itself and the result of this multiplication is a square number. So it must also be true that there are at least as many square numbers than there are non-square numbers.
"Mine is..."
Mine is probably Zeno's Dichotomy paradox although having a favourite paradox is a weird thing.
This one is basically that to reach a certain distance you have to reach half way first. So if the door is 10m away you first have to reach 5m then after that 2.5m then 1.25 and so on and so on which means you will never reach the door.
The other one is The Ship of Theseus, also known as Theseus's paradox. Sometimes also known as the Axe paradox.
The axe version is that if you are given an Axe and replace the wooden handle is it the same axe? What if you then replace the blade? How many times can you repeat this process before the Axe is no longer the same Axe?
Alternatively the ship paradox is similar in that if you replace every part of the ship is it the same ship or a different ship?
Raises the question of identity.
The cool thing about this is that your entire body is made up of a different set of cells every 7 years or so (as cells die). So can you really say you're the same person you were 7 years ago?
"Yes I know..."
Swiss Cheese Paradox
Swiss cheese as we all know has holes. Therefore, the more Swiss cheese you have, the more holes you have. However, the more holes you have, the less cheese you have because of it. In conclusion, the more cheese you have the less cheese you have.
Yes I know it's a joke paradox. I still love it because how stupid it is.
"There is a..."
There is a smallest number that is not nameable in less than 18 syllables. But "The smallest number not nameable in less than 18 syllables" has seventeen syllables and names the same number.
"How 0.9..."
How 0.9 repeating is equal to 1 There's lots of different ways to prove it but the simplest for me is this example:
X = 0.9999... Multiply it by 10, so 10X = 9.9999... Subtract 1X from 10X or 9.999... - 0.9999... which equals 9 So then 9X = 9, simplify to X = 1
I was in denial for a good bit when I first heard of this.
"It's basically..."
The Fermi Paradox
It's basically about the existence of aliens and can be summed up as:
"1- The Milky Way contains hundreds of billions of stars, and billions of them are similar to the sun.
2- It is highly likely that some of these stars will have planets that are similar to Earth.
3- If we assume – via the Copernican principle – that Earth is not particularly special, then intelligent life should also exist on some fraction of these Earth-like planets.
4- Some of these intelligent life-forms might develop advanced technology, and even interstellar travel.
5- Interstellar travel would take a long time, but as there are many sun-like stars that are billions of years older, there has been plenty of time for such travel to have occurred.
6- Given all this, why haven't we met or seen any trace of aliens? Where is everybody?"
"If you could remove a law, which one would get the boot?"
They're Always Watching
"Digital security act (2018)."
"It's a law by the government of Bangladesh, which can let anyone file a case against you, if you speak against the government online."
"There are multiple cases where someone criticized the government, and they have been put in prison because of this law."
"It basically hurts the freedom of speech of Bangladeshi citizens."
"Even though there have been voices raised to demolish this law, the autocratic government doesn't care at all."- ArianThehunter
The US Government, In A Nutshell...
"The ones that allowed politicians to accept funds from corporations."- No_Commercial5671
Lobbying For The People GIF by Creative CourageGiphyDrugs Is Too Broad A Term
"Psilocybin, LSD, and marijuana being considered Schedule 1 drugs (at least in the US)."
"Wild to me that drugs like Xanax, Oxy, some other strong prescription drugs, cocaine, and f*cking meth are all considered 'less dangerous' than drugs that have a much lower death toll and have been shown to be more beneficial in various different treatments and trials."- localstreetcat
Some Of The Most Annoying Laws Aren't Even Enforced...
"Murphys law."- Zert420
No One, NO ONE, Should Be Above The Law
"Any law about immunity for politicians."- iOliverSup
Richard Nixon Corruption GIF by GIPHY NewsGiphyAren't Politicians Supposed To Be Working For Us?
"The one that allows politicians to raise their own salary as long as at least 51% of them vote in favor."
"A few years ago they increased minimum wage by 3.5% then proceeded to increase their own salary by 40% and add 2 new benefits."- vksdann
So, Pretty Much All Laws Benefitting Politicians
"The one that protects individual politicians against the effects of what they did in office."- Silent-Revolution105
Which Citizens, And How Exactly Are They "United"?
"Citizens United."- Lilysils
Amy Klobuchar GIFGiphyMore Like Profiling Act
"Patriot Act."
"And whatever laws that allow for government surveillance besides Patriot Act."
"My dank memes on Reddit and search history is none of the business of the FBI who think using the word 'based' is grounds for a terrorist investigation."- Realtor_3605
"All the anti-terrorist laws that took our privacy's without anyone giving sh*t."- Brilliant_Salad_1345
Not Exactly "Small Government" If You Think About It?
"Where the government can take your stuff."- rtxpurelife2
Robin Hood Disney GIFGiphyBring On The Public Domain
"Every copyright extension from the original (around 20 years)."- reyseven
Um... Do You Really Need Either?
"I would say the meaningless illegality of stuff like nunchucks, balisongs, etc.:
:Why can I buy a military knife made for killing people but I can't buy a knife which uses springs to open?"- racistinfrastrukture·
Clearly Not From A "Stand Your Ground" State...
"The one where you're not allowed to defend yourself if someone breaks into your home with the intent of stealing from you (in my country)."- lycos94
It doesn't take very long at all for certain laws to become outdated.
Making it all the more infuriating that these laws remain in effect.
Particularly when they likely shouldn't even have been made laws in the first place.