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For example, consider a situation in which a father and son are driving down the road. The car collides with a tree and the father is killed. The boy is rushed to the nearest hospital where he is prepared for emergency surgery. On entering the surgery suite, the surgeon says, "I can't operate on this boy. He's my son."
I was trying to find out what a paradox was and this was an example. There are different "solutions" but the ones that were described was not what I was thinking. I was thinking that the father killed is actually a grandfather and the son is the grandson, and the surgeon is the dad.
Edit: nvm I'm completely off, it said dad and son
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is the surgeon the mom? or it could be someone else's father. father just being the word for any one's dad
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United States24351 Posts
I have no idea what you are asking or where trying to ask. Do you simply want help understanding what a paradox is? I don't think that's even remotely a good example...
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I think I get the general idea of what a paradox is, do you have any other examples?
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On June 29 2008 14:16 micronesia wrote: I have no idea what you are asking or where trying to ask. Do you simply want help understanding what a paradox is? I don't think that's even remotely a good example... exactly my question
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Example: You must be cruel only to be kind.
edit: and i searched for this one, pretty awesome;
"War is peace." "Freedom is slavery." "Ignorance is strength." (George Orwell, 1984)
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United States1865 Posts
that is a bad example of a traditional paradox
i read the wikipedia article though and apparantly there are many varieties of paradox that all fall under that name
i think the best, most simple example for how most people use paradox though is
"This statement is false"
because its a logical loop with no possible solution. if the statement is true, then it cant be true, and if its false then it must be true, but that would mean its false again. ta-da its a paradox.
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neither the ops example nor blabbers link is paradox.
ops example is just a riddle. the surgeon is the mother. a play on sexist thoughts
blabbers is just a probability question that noone understands.(i've actually done three presentations on it, and from the start i thought it was the most well known counter-intuitive probabiltiy question out there, and it seems more and more that i was wrong.)
atrioc got the best description i think. i'll try to put it in words real quick. Best i can think of so far is a statement or argument that cannot have any logical solution, such that the statement or argument when followed through always produces a falsity(contradiction).
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isn't a paradox just something that goes against what people would usually think the answer is
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I once did a major work on paradoxes (in poetry form, but really rooted in mathematics). My main reference texts were, "paradoxes from A to Z" by michael clarke, and an expensive green cambridge book which i can't seem to find.
The sorites paradox is a neat little one, "A pile of 10,000 grains is a heap. If we remove a single grain, then it is still a heap. If we remove two grains, it is still a heap. If we remove three grains, it is still a heap... if we continue this line of logic, then 1 grain is a heap".
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that's so sick.i love it.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch_22#Concept
I believe the idea in this book is a good example of a paradox.
+ Show Spoiler +There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to.
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Monty Hall is not a paradox. it is a probability math problem with a tricky solution.
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your story has very little to do with a paradox
God is said to be allmighty but Could God create a stone he couldnt lift ?
-> Paradoxon
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WTF since when is the monty hall problem a paradox? fuck.
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On June 29 2008 15:10 blabber wrote: isn't a paradox just something that goes against what people would usually think the answer is
no thats just counter-intuitive
a paradox breaks itself
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i suppose it's a paradox in that switching your door choice appears to have no apparent advantage over keeping your original choice
also, some of you guys should check the definition out: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=paradox
1. a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth. 2. a self-contradictory and false proposition. 3. any person, thing, or situation exhibiting an apparently contradictory nature. 4. an opinion or statement contrary to commonly accepted opinion.
o__O
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HUGE MIDGITS. A starving glutton?
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Your example is not a paradox, but is based on a preconceived idea that a "surgeon" must be male. The surgeon is his mother =]
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United States22883 Posts
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On June 29 2008 18:32 ShaLLoW[baY] wrote: The surgeon is his mom. Your mother!
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I've got a good one. God, Jesus and the Holy spirit are three separate beings, a trinity if you will, and yet they're one. makey no sensey?
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example:
even though the nature lover had nothing, he had everything he desired.
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some of you guys are just listing oxymorons
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Korea (South)11559 Posts
fuck i thought you were talking about the map
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An oxymoron is a contradiction in terms. A paradox is a contradiction in idea.
Paradoxes are usually thought of in terms of logic. Paradoxes usually employ illogical reasoning, such as circular logic or half truths. Throwing two phrases together are not paradoxes.
Good examples of paradoxes are Gabriel's Horn (An object that has infinite surface area but finite volume) and Zeno's paradox (If you only move halfway to your goal with each step form your current location, you will never reach your destination).
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