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Nairaland Forum / Science/Technology / Paradoxes (7871 Views)
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Re: Paradoxes by Sheikwonder(m): 9:38pm On Dec 02, 2015 |
Re: Paradoxes by Ishilove: 9:46pm On Dec 02, 2015 |
Sheikwonder:Safarigirl, this is for you |
Re: Paradoxes by Ishilove: 9:53pm On Dec 02, 2015 |
Sheikwonder:We are very lost Larrysun, this is for you |
Re: Paradoxes by Sheikwonder(m): 10:24pm On Dec 02, 2015 |
Ishilove: Quite simply,a word is autological if it describes itself,therefore "unhyphenated" is autological,because the word is describing its very self i.e, it is not hyphenated,hence it's name. A word is heterological if it does not describe itself,therefore "long" is heterological,because the word "long" is in fact a short word and hence,does not describe itself. The Paradox arises when we ask: "Is 'heterological' a heterological word? This is a paradox because: "heterological" is an autological word because it describes itself,but "heterological" is an heterological word because it does not describe itself ["heterological" should mean a word that does not describe itself and in this instance it doesn't because it describes itself] I'll be damned if you are not further confused....... |
Re: Paradoxes by Ishilove: 10:36pm On Dec 02, 2015 |
Sheikwonder:*sigh* I gif up |
Re: Paradoxes by Sheikwonder(m): 10:43pm On Dec 02, 2015 |
Ishilove: Ishilove 1-1 Sheikwonder |
Re: Paradoxes by Ishilove: 11:13pm On Dec 02, 2015 |
Sheikwonder:Well played. I shall arise |
Re: Paradoxes by yorex2011: 1:57pm On Dec 03, 2015 |
I see yall having some fun here |
Re: Paradoxes by LarrySun(m): 7:54pm On Dec 03, 2015 |
A thread for great thinkers. The OP must be a good chess player. One life for a thousand years, or ten lives for a hundred years each? All is a logic of choice and belief. To be, or not to be? Logically, which came first: The chicken or the egg? Can the immediate question above be regarded as a paradox? There are paradoxical situations all around us. I extensively studied paradoxes when I was about to begin my 'The Paradox of Abel'. In my research, I arrived at the conclusion that paradoxes are basically spiral cats chasing their own tails. Thanks, my Ishilove, for the mention. |
Re: Paradoxes by Sheikwonder(m): 8:16pm On Dec 03, 2015 |
Cc Larrysun You are right to assume that I play chess. I realize though that the concept of paradoxes is highly confusing to many and despite my best efforts,I seem to fall short of properly explaining them. It thus gladdens my heart to see that there are a few folks out there who find paradoxes fascinating. The chicken and egg debate has raged on for ages.It is a quite uncanny one,even for creationists who believe the biblical creation story,thus opting for the chicken. Paradoxes of entailment and infinity still rank high among my favorites.they help in promoting critical thinking. As they say,it takes one to know one. You play chess too,yes? |
Re: Paradoxes by LarrySun(m): 10:41pm On Dec 03, 2015 |
Sheikwonder: In that regard, the Fibonacci sequence may be considered a numerical paradox. However, there is one particular kind of paradox that always fascinates. It's The Grandfather Paradox. It is a proposed paradox of time travel which results in an inconsistency through changing the past. It explains the age-old argument of preventing your birth by killing your grandparents. For example, a time traveller goes back in time and kills his grandfather before his grandfather meets his grandmother. As a result, the time traveller is never born. But, if he was never born, then he is unable to travel through time and kill his grandfather, which means the traveller would then be born after all, and so on. Yes, I play chess. |
Re: Paradoxes by Sheikwonder(m): 10:52pm On Dec 03, 2015 |
LarrySun: I am well acquainted with the Grandfather paradox. Have you heard of the paradox of the grand hotel? By the way,on a scale of 0-10,how would you rate your chess? |
Re: Paradoxes by LarrySun(m): 11:21pm On Dec 03, 2015 |
Sheikwonder:Can you kindly explain the paradox of the grand hotel? I would rate myself a definite 7. |
Re: Paradoxes by Sheikwonder(m): 11:28pm On Dec 03, 2015 |
Because I am getting tired,I will post a link to it...quite simply,if an hotel with infinitely many rooms is full,can it still take in more guests? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilbert's_paradox_of_the_Grand_Hotel Do you play chess online? |
Re: Paradoxes by LarrySun(m): 7:11am On Dec 04, 2015 |
Sheikwonder:Okay. Thanks. Not always. But I would play online with you if you could tell me what to do. |
Re: Paradoxes by Sheikwonder(m): 10:19am On Dec 04, 2015 |
LarrySun: Are you registered on any chess site,besides chess.com? |
Re: Paradoxes by Nobody: 1:39pm On Dec 04, 2015 |
Nice thread sheikwonder I've been wondering where you were?? Paradoxes huh Ride on! |
Re: Paradoxes by Sheikwonder(m): 2:10pm On Dec 04, 2015 |
SirWere: I've been around,observing... Thanks anyway,I appreciate... |
Re: Paradoxes by Nobody: 2:14pm On Dec 04, 2015 |
Sheikwonder:Oya, can you quick quick go and chook your mouth into my thread about the soul |
Re: Paradoxes by Sheikwonder(m): 2:21pm On Dec 04, 2015 |
SirWere: Kindly paste the link here Sir... |
Re: Paradoxes by Nobody: 2:33pm On Dec 04, 2015 |
Sheikwonder:www.nairaland.com/2772887/finding-soul-purely-philosophical-thread |
Re: Paradoxes by AllNaijaBlogger(m): 6:25pm On Dec 04, 2015 |
There is another type of paradox that I really like- The causal loop or predestination paradox This is a form of temporal (time travel) paradox. It occurs when travelling to the past and trying to change it actually ensures the inevitable future one is trying to deviate from. For instance, Mr. A goes to the past to stop his wife (Mrs. A) from dying in a motor accident in the present. However, by going to the past, he triggers a series of events that leads Mrs. A to die in the car accident- Mr. A goes back in time, captures his younger self order to replace him and warn his wife of her impending motor death but in the process of kidnapping his younger self, he too gets trapped and then his wife goes on driving in a crazy way to find her missing husband and then, dies in a car crash. The paradox lies in the fact that 1. changing the past logically means that the future will change as well 2. however, it was the act of changing the past (Mr. A going back to the past and trying to replace his younger self) that causes the known future to remain the same. One can say that Mrs. A's death is predestined. It is fated. Hence, a predestination paradox. |
Re: Paradoxes by yorex2011: 6:43pm On Dec 04, 2015 |
7/10 in chess, then you must be a national master at least.. I can't rate myself more than 4 |
Re: Paradoxes by Sheikwonder(m): 6:48pm On Dec 04, 2015 |
Cc:AllNaijaBlogger Good one there,striking similarities with LarrySun's grandfather paradox. Ever heard of sorites paradox? Interesting one,that. Also known as paradox of the heap,it is a paradox centred on fuzziness and vague predicates.It goes thus: 1 million grains of sand make a heap. If you take out one grain of sand from this i.e 999,999 grains,you are still left with a heap. If you yet take away another grain i.e 999,998 grains,you still have a heap of sand. This process can be iterated until there is just one grain left. The paradox comes into play by calling that last grain a heap. This is because if at 1 million it remains a heap,at 600,000 it remains a heap,at 200,000 it remains a heap;then for any given value save zero,you can refer to it as a heap. The paradox arises because of vagueness: there is no accepted value for what constitutes a heap. Is it a million grains,100,000 grains or 1,000 grains? Or simply put,at what point does a heap of sand stop being a heap of sand? |
Re: Paradoxes by Feraz(m): 8:35pm On Dec 04, 2015 |
Nice one there OP! Fascinating topic. I'm enjoying every bit of it. How about these (saw it somewhere): The crocodile sophism A slim crocodile living in the Nile took a child. His mother begged to have him back. The crocodile could not only talk, but was also a great sophist and stated, "If you guess correctly what I will do with him, I will return him. However, if you don't predict his fate correctly, I'll eat him." What statement should the mother make to save her child? Can a man drown in a fountain of eternal life? |
Re: Paradoxes by Sheikwonder(m): 8:55pm On Dec 04, 2015 |
Cc: Feraz Good work there...you just brought up some fond memories. I argued the crocodile paradox with colleagues in my days at UNIBEN... In a moment,I shall discuss another paradox,please stay in touch. |
Re: Paradoxes by Feraz(m): 9:06pm On Dec 04, 2015 |
UNIBEN? Interesting! Sheikwonder: |
Re: Paradoxes by Sheikwonder(m): 9:46pm On Dec 04, 2015 |
Some other paradoxes while logical are also interesting because on first glance they do not look paradoxical. However they have practical applications in game theory,as well as in models that are predictive in nature. Consider for example,"The Unexpected Hanging".... A judge tells a condemned prisoner that he will be hanged at noon on one weekday in the following week but that the execution will be a surprise to the prisoner. He will not know the day of the hanging until the executioner knocks on his cell door at noon that day. Having reflected on his sentence, the prisoner draws the conclusion that he will escape from the hanging. His reasoning is in several parts. He begins by concluding that the "surprise hanging" can't be on Friday, as if he hasn't been hanged by Thursday, there is only one day left - and so it won't be a surprise if he's hanged on Friday. Since the judge's sentence stipulated that the hanging would be a surprise to him, he concludes it cannot occur on Friday. He then reasons that the surprise hanging cannot be on Thursday either, because Friday has already been eliminated and if he hasn't been hanged by Wednesday night, the hanging must occur on Thursday, making a Thursday hanging not a surprise either. By similar reasoning he concludes that the hanging can also not occur on Wednesday, Tuesday or Monday. Joyfully he retires to his cell confident that the hanging will not occur at all. The next week, the executioner knocks on the prisoner's door at noon on Wednesday — which, despite all the above, was an utter surprise to him. Everything the judge said came true. The Paradox here,is that despite logically eliminating all possibilities of his date with death,when death came for the prisoner,he was still surprised- just like the judge predicted. N.B: This Paradox also has variants e.g The Surprise Examination Paradox |
Re: Paradoxes by LarrySun(m): 9:52pm On Dec 04, 2015 |
Sheikwonder:I have an online chess application. It's called Chess Time. I don't know if you have it too. It's on Playstore. |
Re: Paradoxes by Sheikwonder(m): 9:55pm On Dec 04, 2015 |
LarrySun: Sadly,no....I do all my chess via my computer or on a board...no phones... |
Re: Paradoxes by Sheikwonder(m): 10:03pm On Dec 04, 2015 |
Not all logical problems are paradoxes,some come in the form of dilemmas. A famous logical dilemma is the Prisoner's Dilemma. It shows that two rational people will not cooperate to help themselves out,even if it is in their best interest to do so. Here goes: Two members of a criminal gang are arrested and imprisoned. Each prisoner is in solitary confinement with no means of communicating with the other. The prosecutors lack sufficient evidence to convict the pair on the principal charge. They hope to get both sentenced to a year in prison on a lesser charge. Simultaneously, the prosecutors offer each prisoner a bargain. Each prisoner is given the opportunity either to: betray the other by testifying that the other committed the crime, or to cooperate with the other by remaining silent. The offer is: -If A and B each betray the other, each of them serves 2 years in prison -If A betrays B but B remains silent, A will be set free and B will serve 3 years in prison (and vice versa) -If A and B both remain silent, both of them will only serve 1 year in prison (on the lesser charge) Because betraying a partner offers a greater reward than cooperating with him, all purely rational self-interested prisoners would betray the other, and so the only possible outcome for two purely rational prisoners is for them to betray each other. The interesting part of this result is that pursuing individual reward logically leads both of the prisoners to betray, when they would get a better reward if they both kept silent. In summary,the prisoners would rather snitch than stay silent.......before you say otherwise,what would you do if you were in the same situation? |
Re: Paradoxes by LarrySun(m): 10:11pm On Dec 04, 2015 |
Sheikwonder:I don't think it's exclusive to phones alone. |
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