7 Paradoxes We Bet You Can

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7 paradoxes we bet you cant solve

Chris | Aug 13, 2010 |View Comments

Paradoxes are rather loosely defined, but can be said to be a true statement that defiesintuition. Some have solutions, some dont. Here are 7 paradoxes we bet you cant

solve.

1. Free will

Image source - Wikipedia

If God is omnipotent and knows what we will do before he created us, how can we

have free will?

ANSWER: This paradox is explained by God being outside of timehe knows the

future just like he knows the past and the present. Just as the past does

not interfere with our free will, neither does the future.

2. Crocodile Dilemma

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A crocodile steals a son from his father, and promises to return the child if the father

can correctly guess what the crocodile will do. What happens if the father guesses that

the child will not be returned to him?

ANSWER: There is no solution. If the crocodile keeps the child, he violates his rule,

as the father predicted correctly. If the crocodile returns the child, he still violates hisrule as the fathers prediction was wrong.

3. Grandfather paradox

Image source - zastavki.com

A man goes back in time, and kills his grandfather before the grandmother can meet

his grandmother. This means that one of the mans parents will not have been born,and the man in turn, will not have been born. This would mean that he could not have

traveled back in time after all, which means the grandfather would still be alive, and

the traveler would have been conceived allowing him to travel back in time and kill

his grandfather.

ANSWER: The moment the time traveler changes something in the past, a parallel

universe splits. This is supported by quantum mechanics.

4. Paradox of the heap
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There are 1,000,000 grains of sand in a heap. If we remove one grain, it is still a heap.

If we remove another grain, if it still a heap. If we continue removing one grain at a

time, when were left with one grain, is that still a heap?

ANSWER: Set a fixed boundary. If we said 10,000 grains of sand made a heap, then

anything below it would not be a heap. Yet, it seems unreasonable to distinguish

between 9,999 and 10,001 grains of sand. The solution can therefore be altered to say

there is a fixed boundary, but they are not necessarily knowable.

5. Omnipotence paradox


Can God create something so heavy He cannot lift it? If he can create something so

heavy he cant lift, then his lack of strength means he is not omnipotent. If he cant

create something so heavy he cant lift, than he is not omnipotent.

ANSWER: The most common response is that as God is omnipotent, can not liftdoes not make sense. Other answers include the question being a contradiction, like a

square circle.

6. Epimenides paradox
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Epimenides, in a poem wrote: The Cretans, always liars, evil beasts, idle bellies!

However, Epimenides himself was a Cretan. If Epimenides is a Cretan and a liar, then

his statement, The Cretans, always liars is a lie. This means all Cretans are truthful,

then Epimenides statement is the truth. The paradox will infinitely regress.

ANSWER: If Epimenides knew of at least one Cretan (other than himself) who is not

a liar, his statement is a lie (because he asserts all) even though it correctly describes

the speaker as a liar.

7. Unstoppable force paradox

Image source - motivatedphotos.com

What happens when an unstoppable force meets an unmovable object? If the force

moves the object, then it is not unmovable. If the force doesnt, the force is not

unstoppable.
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ANSWER: This situation can never happen, as if there is an unstoppable force, there

couldnt be an unmovable object and vice versa. More interestingly, there can never

be an unmovable object. An unmovable object would have to have infinite inertia, and

therefore infinite mass. Infinite mass cannot exist in our finite universe, therefore an

unmovable object cannot exist.

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7 Paradoxes We Bet You Can