#Paradoxes

[katerinaaqu]

Epic the Musical fans: Yay Odysseus remains loyal to Penelope and doesn't sleep with Circe!

Also Epic the Musical fans: ship Odysseus with almost every other character

And that, ladies and gentlemen is called Fandom Paradox 🤣🤣🤣

Mythology readers: Yeah all characters have done terrible crimes

Also Mythology readers: defend to the death the character that drew their attention

And that, ladies and gentlemen is called Classic Paradox 🤣🤣🤣

[mil0xxx]

"Run Achilles, you can reach the turtle...."

Achilles and the tortoise paradox.

[novelties-and-notions]

FLOSTRE: Enough of this tittle-tattle! Can we just talk about logic for a bit?

SOCRATES [Peers at audience]: Do you think that will go down better? If you ask me, you should bring on the dancing girls while you're ahead.

FLOSTRE: I'm not asking you. All I want to know is what do you know about logical matters?

SOCRATES: All I know is that I know nothing.

FLOSTRE: You never actually said that until just now, did you?

SOCRATES: I don't know. All I know is that I know nothing.

FLOSTRE: Is that a paradox?

SOCRATES: Only if it's true. How about this one: I only know one thing?

FLOSTRE: And what's that?

SOCRATES: That I only know one thing.

FLOSTRE [and audience]: And what's that?

SOCRATES: That I only know one thing.

A MATHEMATICIAN IN THE AUDIENCE: Apply a fixed-point function!

FLOSTRE: I'm sorry mon ami. I left my fixed-point function in my other suit. It was one of those Y-shaped chrome-plated ones designed by Haskell Curry, with the attachment for taking stones out of horses hoofs. But hélas, I do not have it with me. Now where were we?

SOCRATES: That I only… Oh, forget it. When do the dancing girls come on?

FLOSTRE: Later. There is much to discuss before then.

SOCRATES: I was afraid of that.

FLOSTRE: Talking of paradoxes, did you know that there's a village where the barber shaves every man who doesn't shave himself?

SOCRATES: I've been there. It's no paradox.

FLOSTRE: Comment ça?

SOCRATES: Because the barber is a woman. [B-boom on the bass drum.]

FLOSTRE: That's the Theory of Types for you, folks.

[hcperson]

The Jevil Paradox

We all know Jevil’s iconic phrase, "I CAN DO ANYTHING", right? Well what if I told you that phrase is the start of a paradox I have named... The Jevil Paradox. Creative, I know.

So, it begins with a simple claim... "I CAN DO ANYTHING!" That one, yeah. And this claim has one weakness, our paradox. You see, if jevil can do "anything" well...

Can they find something they *cant* do?

You see, if jevil can do anything, as in EVERYTHING, there's nothing they can't do.

But if they can do anything, they can find something they can't do... right? ...right?

You see, this is what The Jevil Paradox is. If one can do anything, they can't find something they can't do, but then, they can do anything? A paradox.

Thank you for coming to my Ted talk.

[communistmishka]

Smash

[jamesyyalbert]

The “answer” to all logical paradoxes, is any answer in a state of quantum superposition.

“It is both this true thing, and that contradictory true thing, simultaneously.”

Sure, paradoxes are fun word games, but they are also so much more than that.

[starryknight-dragonarts]

Daydreaming

I was just daydreaming a scene in my head of some sort of modern or near-future setting fantasy secret world that's encroaching on the contemporary normal world The Kid heroes have gone on a quest to find some kindly elder dragon who's they can think can save the day if they can only get him to help them, but the Dragon refuses their call. Frustrated one of the kids complains that they came all this way, they are not just going to leave with a No as their answer, and try to appeal to the dragon that so many people will be hurt if they don't help. The Old Dragon solemnly explains that he's not looking to try to be a hero or save anybody, he is just a guy who wants to be left alone. If he starts using his immense power to solve every problem for humans, then they will either grow to become reliant on him, or to resent him for imposing his own order on the world through force. Then eventually somebody may find another dragon or conceive of a clever scheme to trap or kill him, and then you have an entirely new problem that renders your walking weapon obsolete. He's seen it though history and read many stories over his many years; Having the biggest weapon isn't always the automatic win you think it will be, bigger weapons only lead to an arms race. Perhaps your weapon may win a battle, but next time the enemy will expect your weapon and have come up with a counter to it. He also doesn't like the idea of being treated like a weapon. He may be big, scaly, and powerful but he's still a Person. As soon as Humans start seeing him as a weapon they'll want to be able to control him, and if they can't control him even allies might start to see him as a threat.

The kids ask him then, if he can't help then what are they supposed to do...they can't beat the bad guy themselves? The Elder Dragon asks them why they think Humans have trouble using magic....He then explains that Humans have always had trouble accepting Paradoxes, anything they believe MUST be an impossibility. As a child you see a Magician pull a Rabbit out of a Hat and it is Magical because you couldn't see the rabbit while looking down the hat, you didn't know how the rabbit got there, or how it goes away, but you see the rabbit come out of the Hat anyway. That is a Paradox. You could learn how the trick works but then it stops being magic, because all the mystery is removed and the paradox is entirely removed from the moment. Humans are inherently curious, and there is nothing strictly wrong with wanting answers, but many humans see this ability as secondary to being able to Imagine and Dream. To take an impossible premise and believe for a moment it could be real. Before you can cast any spell you must first believe that an impossibility can be possible. How can you learn to fly if you can't first believe that a Rock can be as light as Air? How can you transform if you can't first believe that a Human can be a Wolf? How can you detect things unseen if you can't first believe that you can see with your eyes shut?

[cupofcoffeyy-blog]

Although you may not think the list above would make any difference in yourself overall .. I dare you to try it 

[twinscorpion33]

Gemini & Scorpio in Big 3

An attempt to ruth incongruity

Is a heavy existence worth its weight in ecstatic intensity?

Could a soul just as easily chose a less inimical vessel?

Being that one is a soul, rather than has a soul, and that each soul is given absolute free reign of design,

Why would one such soul willfully prefer a life

As a technicolor winged insect

Who barely breaks the surface tension of the lake, and yet also manages to sink to the bottom in stone boots

How would one even begin to interpret, let alone perceive, a creature born of, and to, paradox for paradoxes’ sake

They are light, brightening, and hopeful. They gleefully skim and tread curiously

They too are dampening, brooding, descending, and depth-full; perpetually afraid to drown

(They have never drown)

They are more afraid of not being truly understood than not being loved quite as well as they could’ve been

The latter situation is tragic, the former is doomed

[glennriley49]

The Paradoxes We Live By

In a world where trust is fleeting,

Those who can't trust, are often deceiving,

They sabotage love, fearing betrayal,

Their own doubts, a poison lethal.

Life's path seems steep and hard,

But ease is found in each challenge scarred,

For when you tread the rugged way,

The burden of regret you'll keep at bay.

Discipline's pain is sharp, but brief,

Regret’s shadow lingers, bringing grief,

Two paths we must all choose between,

One sharp and clear, the other unseen.

To impress, we often lose our grace,

For in trying hard, we lose the race,

Authenticity, a quiet charm,

Is stronger than any effort to disarm.

Fear of death binds the soul tight,

But courage gives wings to soar in flight,

Life shrinks or expands within our grasp,

Based on the fears we dare to clasp.

In learning, we find our limits revealed,

The vast unknown is our knowledge's yield,

But wisdom lies in embracing the quest,

To never stop seeking, never to rest.

These paradoxes shape our days,

Guiding us through life's intricate maze,

Each one a truth wrapped in disguise,

A lesson clear to the heart that's wise.

[random-xpressions]

Why be so concerned and worried about your own paradoxes when God himself has displayed such perfection in his paradox - nothing as furious as his rage, nothing as gracious as his forgiveness, greatest polarities centered in one...

Random Xpressions

[alicesoinions]

I have a supposition.

I think all ravens are bright pink.

This would, by contraposition, imply that if something is not bright pink, it is not a raven.

All ravens are pink, thus, if something is not pink, it can't be a raven. If it were a raven, it'd be pink.

If the statement "If something is not bright pink, it is not a raven" is true, then the statement "All ravens are bright pink" is true; if all things that weren't bright pink also aren't ravens, this means that all ravens are pink.

Look at this picture:

This is a tangerine.

As you can see, it is not bright pink. It is also not a raven.

Seeing it gives me more credence to my theory that "If something is not bright pink, it is not a raven." Seeing one thing that is both Not Pink and also Not A Raven supports my idea.

This, of course, means it also supports my theory of "All ravens are bright pink."

[theraccoonsinyourbackyard]

I fucking hate time travel in stories. Change my mind.

Someone, convince me that time travel stories are fun and that time travel is a nice storytelling resource instead of being anything but annoying. Someone, convince me time travel paradoxes are fun and interesting for a person who hates the idea of destiny.

[markerofthemidnight]

Time Travel Paradoxes Are Objectively Cool (aka An Essay Where A Lame Bitch Gives You Ideas For Resolving Time Travel Paradoxes In Your Writing)

Hey guys, it’s me, ranting again. This time I wanted to try talking about time travel. Or, more specifically, time travel paradoxes.

I’ll go in-depth about what the paradox is, how it’s caused, where things get complicated, and potential “solutions” to it, all for the sake of your reading entertainment… or mainly just to give you a really hyperspecific form of writing advice.

I’ll talk about both ones I came up with myself and old-timey ones we’re all familiar with. Speaking of which:

The Grandfather Paradox

This one’s simple. Like, probably the simplest one on the list.

If you go back in time to kill your grandfather before he has any children (for whatever reason), you cease to exist as well, which means your grandfather exists since you are no longer around to kill him, which means that you exist since he’s around to eventually bring rise to you, which means that he doesn’t since you killed him, and so on and so forth.

This is, like I said, a simple problem with multiple simple solutions. For example:

Killing your grandfather is downright impossible up until he conceives one of your parents: wether because of horrible, reverse-Final Destination-style luck getting in the way or whatnot (the thread of time has to have self-preservation instincts, after all)

The most common solution: when you kill your grandfather, you create an alternate reality where you were never born, but since you’re from Reality A and not Reality B, both you and your grandfather are fine

My favourite solution: you succeed in killing your grandfather, but then your grandmother goes on to get with another man, who is now your new grandfather

The Bootstrap Paradox

Just barely lagging behind The Grandfather Paradox as the simplest one on this list.

The Bootstrap Paradox is what happens when an event causes itself. Let’s say you go back in time and give your grandmother (dear god why do these always have to do with grandparents) an item that she will later give to you in the present.

This is obviously a problem because it raises questions on how the item originally got there. (This isn’t limited to just items, of course, but let’s use that as an example-) Not only that, but also that, if the cycle started, how will it ever be broken? Can it be broken?

The reason why this is ranked as not being as simple as the Grandfather Paradox, if you ask me, is the lack of immediately obvious solutions. Granted, it’s not really something that needs to be solved: it’s just confusing.

Regardless, the item had to get there somehow. Someone, whether third party or not, gave it to one of you at some point. But if your grandmother truly was the original recipient, and you gave her an item that someone else was supposed to give to you, is there now a copy of it somewhere around there? Does she have both, and the reason why she gave it to you is because she already has a spare?

Oh, and speaking of copies:

The Time Travel Clone Paradox

You all knew this was coming, didn’t you?

This one doesn’t really need an explanation. If you travel back in time and meet your past self, what happens?

Well… probably the simplest solution I can come up with is just “nothing”.

There’s no grand cosmic plan in this universe. No one person has to always be in the same place at the same time: if that was the case, then why is time travel even possible?

There’s no reason for them to not be able to both exist at the same time. So why can’t they? Well… that’s a deceptively simple solution, so let’s just say that the, like… Gods of Time or whatever can’t allow that. Here’s a few other, more complex solutions:

The Futurama solution, where the time traveler is doomed to die if they don’t get out of there quick enough

Time travelers, for whatever reason, can only travel to points in time where they aren’t alive, preventing this problem altogether

When people make eye contact with their past selves, they’re instantly sent back to the present: there’s a timeline out there missing a person, after all

And when you think about it… this trope doesn’t only apply to people, does it? What if instead of seeing your future self… you saw your fate?

The Prophecy Problem

Now, THIS is what I made this entire essay for.

I know what you’re thinking. Prophecies of your own future can’t count as time travel paradoxes: most of the time they don’t even involve time travel!

And to that I say… do they? It’s a character making decisions based off of information that, at that point in their lives, they shouldn’t have. That’s time travel in a sense, don’t you think?

And sure, this is pretty boring when applied to the old “self-fulfilling prophecy” trope. But when it isn’t… well, here’s a situation I thought up.

A man is approached by an… entity of chaos, let’s say, who tells him that he will die later today. It tells him one small decision he makes later today that will inevitably result in his death… and nothing else. Not when he dies, not how he dies, it just tells him one thing he can do to potentially prevent it and then leaves.

Assuming that he, for some reason, knows that this isn’t a trick and believes it instantly, what does he do? The entity only told him one thing that could prevent it potentially, but he still doesn’t know how or when it happens, just that it does.

A man often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it. Even if he tries to avoid his fate, he might still meet it nonetheless. But if the entity knew that- which it likely did- why did it even bother telling him about his future?

Here’s how I would take this: It’s not like Futurama and its doomed temporal clones where any attempts for you to make a new timeline instantly go to waste. The new timeline has the potential to be both better and worse than the original: but regardless, it’s never going to be easy for you.

After all, you are making decisions based off of information you shouldn’t have. That alone leaves a major hole in the space-time continuum.

That’s All, Folks

Honestly, I didn’t put much thought into this essay before making it. There’s not a lot more I have to say… except for two last things:

No, I’m not including the Free Will Paradox. Its entire point is that everything you do was always destined to happen and that nothing you do matters: it doesn’t have a solution, it’s just incredibly confusing.

I considered including time loops as well, but really it depends on how it’s taken. If it’s a Majora’s Mask loop, it’s inevitable that it’ll be solved if you try hard enough. If it’s a Groundhog Day loop, it’s up to you to figure out the not immediately obvious solution, assuming it even has one.

[conversationavecmonchat]

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