Our minds crave familiarity, and as we all know, too much familiarity is bad and leads to complacency.
It’s important to challenge the rational mind every now and then.
That’s why today we’re going to dive into 4 paradoxes that will probably make you scratch your head. (The last one will change your perspective on God.)
1. The Liar Paradox
Is it true? If you say yes then the liar sentence is true but it says that it’s false. Therefore it must be false but you said it is true.
If you say it’s false, then the sentence should be true because it says that it is false, but then that means that is also false.
You see where it goes.
The paradox here is that the sentence is true and false at the same time.
However, nothing can be false and true at the same time.
This paradox was invented by the philosopher Eubulides of Miletus, who was famous for his paradoxes, in the 4th century BC.
2. The Ship of Theseus Paradox
For this one, we need a little bit of context.
Theseus was a young prince of Athens in Ancient Greece, who wanted to prove his worthiness of succeeding to the throne. To prove it, he decided to embark on a ship towards Crete where the Minotaur, a mythological creature, held Athenian kids and fought it.
He succeeded at rescuing the seven boys and seven girls and killed the Minotaur. Upon his return to Athens, he was welcomed with praise and recognition.
The Athenians decided to keep the boat that Theseus used as a national treasure for hundreds of years. However, as the boat became old, its worn-out components had to be replaced with new ones.
Over time, every part of the ship was gradually replaced.
That’s when the philosophical dilemma arises: “Is it still the same boat?”
Can it still be called Theseus’s ship?
If not, then at what point did it stop being?
This paradox was created by the Greek philosopher and historian Plutarch, and questions the nature of identity and challenges our understanding of what makes something the “same” over time.
3. The Barber Paradox
In a certain town with only one barber, the law says:
1.The barber shaves all those men who live in the town who do not shave themselves, and only those men.
2. All inhabitants must be shaved.
But the question is “Does the barber shave himself?”
If the barber shaves himself, then he must stop because the law says that he shouldn’t shave someone who shaves himself.
However, the law also states he must shave himself because the barber needs to shave everyone in the town who doesn’t shave himself.
This paradox, introduced by Bertrand Russel, leads to a logical contradiction.
4. The Omnipotence Paradox
Imagine for a second an omnipotent being, for example, a God.
He can do everything because he has infinite power, right?
Well, the question arises: “Can an omnipotent being create a stone so heavy that even it cannot lift it?”
If the being can create a stone so heavy that it can’t lift, then it can’t do anything — namely, lift the stone, which implies that the being is not omnipotent.
If the being can’t create such a stone, then there’s something else it can’t do — create a stone so heavy that it can’t lift, which also suggests that the being is not omnipotent.
This paradox, often associated with medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas, concludes that true omni potency is impossible or logically incoherent.
That’s all for today!
These paradoxes invite us to rethink our concepts of truth and existence. Let them inspire deeper reflection and curiosity.