Paradoxes... Part One.

Don't know what a paradox is?

Click here.


Here are a couple of paradoxes to think about. The paradoxes are obtained from:

• Falletta: The Paradoxicon
• Sainsbury: Paradoxes, 2nd Edition
• Smullyan: What Is The Name of This Book?
• Morris: The Ivan Morris Puzzle Book
  

I know, it's weird to put sources first, but I'm too damned lazy to type them out afterwards.

God is not all-powerful as he cannot build a wall he cannot jump .

A Paradoxical notice:
Please ignore this notice.

Ham Sandwich > Eternal Happiness.
Which is better, eternal happiness or a ham sandwich? It would appear that eternal happiness is better, but this is really not so! After all, nothing is better than eternal happiness, and a ham sandwich is certainly better than nothing. Therefore a ham sandwich is better than eternal happiness.

The Simplest Liar Paradox:
This Sentence is False.
Is that sentence true or false? If it is false then it is true, and if it is true then it is false...

Tortoise > Achilles
Zeno's second paradox of motion, of Achilles and the tortoise, is probably the best known of his four paradoxes of motion. In this problem, the fleet Greek warrior runs a race against a slow-moving tortoise. Assume Achilles runs at ten times the speed of the tortoise (1 meter per second to 0.1 meter per second). The tortoise is given a 100-meter handicap in a race that is 1,000 meters. By the time Achilles reaches the tortoise's starting point T₀, the tortoise will have moved on to point T₁. Soon, Achilles will reach point T₁, but by then the tortoise would have moved on to T₂, and so on, ad infinitum. Every time Achilles reaches a point where the tortoise has just been, the tortoise has moved on a bit. Although the distances between the two runners will diminish rapidly, Achilles can never catch up with the tortoise, or so it would seem.

Sorites Paradox of the Heap:
Suppose you have a heap of sand. If you take away one grain of sand, what remains is still a heap: removing a single grain cannot turn a heap into something that is not a heap. If two collections of grains of sand differ in number by just one grain, then both or neither are heaps. This apparently obvious and uncontroversial supposition appears to lead to the paradoxical conclusion that all collections of grains of sand, even one-membered collections, are heaps.

Proving that 2 = 1

Here is the version offered by Augustus De Morgan: Let x = 1. Then x² = x. So x² - 1 = x -1. Dividing both sides by x -1, we conclude that x + 1 = 1; that is, since x = 1, 2 = 1.

Do you think monkeys speak French?

It is generally inadvisable to slip on a banana peel strategically positioned next to an upright katana.

Even if you are not a video game character.

C'est la vie.

Fruitcake.

This is the Gustave, reporting in.


College life is fast, hectic, and exciting.

Kind of like sex.

It may even be over before you know it.


And like sex, profound words of wisdom and acts that defy the laws of physics may even occur amidst the mind-blowing pressure and sweat.


MIND-blowing.


"Maybe some people have genetically straight pubic hair."
-Qirby, 1311, 09-04-2008.


Yes. She did say that.


No. We were in Asia Cafe enjoying roti telur bawang and puble tea.


Yes. That is spelt right...after Qirby found a "pubic" hair on the cover of her bubble tea.


No. It was not my hair. Pubic or otherwise.


And yes. Qirby made the quote of the week after I tried to convince her that pubic hair is curly.

Sarah: "You want to have Sex on The Beach?"

Gustave: "...Which beach?"

*Sarah bursts out laughing*

Gustave: "Oh right! It's a drink. Heh. Right?"

...Sometimes, during college (or sex), we reflect on the past, possibly even our high school life...



"My friend got suspended for a few weeks. I think he started a Mexican Wave in class."
-Victoria, 27-03-2008


...sometimes on the way to class in the morning we hear Chinese radio hosts trying to be the next Zen Tao Guru thing...


(translated from chinese)
"A kindergarten teacher shows her students a painting of a black dot on a sheet of white paper. She asks them what they see. They reply :'A black dot!' The teacher then says :'Class, that's the case in life. People will always focus on the bad parts of your character and miss all the good in you. It's time to look at the bigger picture of life.'"


...that actually seemed very profound and touching, taking into the account that I had about 5 hours of sleep and tend to be very groggy in the morning. But it makes perfect sense and fits as a metaphor just as an XL ribbed condom fits on 5-year-old's fist.


Ungh.


Yeah.


...what?



Fruitcake!


What if the kindergarten teacher showed them a picture of a WHITE dot on a sheet of BLACK paper?


I highly doubt that the answer would have been "A black mass engulfing a circular white spot."


A white flaggeracking spot.


That's what.



Speaking of Chinese wisdom...

"In waking a tiger, use a long stick."
-Mao Tse-Tung


Hmm.



That is definitely a war tactic.



Or practical advice for adrenaline-junkies.



Or a metaphor for sex.




Yeah. Probably a metaphor for sex.




...Aganrmas are wrods or prhaess mdae by minixg up the lterets of ohter wrods or pshraes...



The eyes
They see

Mother-in-law
Woman Hitler

Debit card
Bad credit

Astronomer
Moon starer

Desperation
A rope ends it

Election results
Lies - Let's recount



I'm sure we Malaysians can relate to the last one.



...and to cheerily top off this cherry ridden cherry fruitcake with big juicy banana...


Conversation.
VoicesRantOn.




Rock on.

Rock hard.

This is the Gustave, over and out.

How It Works Out.

Once everyone accepts, we'll have seven authors. That's three admins:

• Wayne (Dictator-of-sorts)
  
• Yench (Main Poster (boy) )
  
• Hafiz (Graphics and Editorials)
  

and four normal authors, for those of you who can't do math that well.

This blog will have a maximum of nine authors in total. Why? Pshaw. It's a lucky number, fool.

How do we blog? Simple.

When you have something interesting/intelligent/witty to blog about, blog it. That's all there is to it. All I ask is that you give at least ONE DAY's gap between the last post and yours. Don't overkill. Spread it out.

Thank you.

And blog regularly. Or you'll be getting some warning jabs in the ass. Regularly roughly means once a week or so. Nothing too hectic. Thank you for joining.

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