A paradox is a logical problem that puzzlingly contradicts itself. It is a statement that goes against common sense but still might be true. For example, the famous Greek philosopher Socrates’s statement, ‘I know that I know nothing,’ is a paradox. The statement contradicts itself because how can you know something if you do not know anything? Paradoxes try to simultaneously achieve two contradictory results that may defy our perception of reality. Discussing such contradictions can instantly set off a headache, but they also encourage critical thinking. Let’s examine a few of these paradoxes and see what experts believe.
The Chicken and Egg Paradox
‘Which came first, the chicken or the egg?’ This is the question that ancient Greek philosopher Plutarch asked in his essay Symposiacs. It is one of the oldest known paradoxes, perplexing humans since ages. From an evolutionary standpoint, many experts have inferred that the first chicken originated from a different species called proto-chicken (which looked somewhat like a chicken). Genetic mutation of the egg laid by a proto-chicken resulted in the development of chicken. As a result, you can say that the egg came before the chicken. However, in 2014, some British researchers pointed out that a critical protein was required to form the chicken egg. This protein is found only in chicken! Thus, it is possible that the chicken came first. Experts are still trying to find conclusive results for this paradox.
The Grandfather Paradox
Have you watched the 1985 sci-fi movie Back to the Future? There, the protagonist is a time traveller who unintentionally triggers a fight between his parents before they were married. So, he has to work really hard in order to unite them again, to ensure his own birth. This is precisely a case of the famous Grandfather Paradox, a time travel theory that became popular during the 1920s and 1930s. Precisely, the Grandfather Paradox is a theory that presents a hypothetical scenario like this: A person travels back to the past in a time machine and accidentally and kills his grandfather or any other ancestor who hasn't had an offspring. This makes the person's birth impossible. Well, if the person is not born, then he can't kill his grandfather for sure. This is where the paradox lies. Like many other paradoxes, scientists haven’t been able to resolve it so far.
Fredkin’s Paradox
Have you ever noticed that you struggle to decide between chocolate or vanilla ice cream? The Fredkin Paradox, proposed by Edward Fredkin, a professor of digital physics in Pennsylvania, explains why you struggle to make choices. It states: ‘The more equally desirable two choices look, the harder it can be to choose between them. And as the choices get closer to each other in quality, the difference in the effect they have on your life shrinks.’ This means that either of the choices will not make much difference to you. As a result, you would be unnecessarily spending more time on unimportant choices!
Ship of Theseus
According to legend, Theseus, the mythical king of Athens, rescued children from a tyrant called King Minos and escaped to a Greek island called Delos by ship. The Athenians celebrated this heroic escape each year by taking the ship on a pilgrimage to Delos. The Ship of Theseus is a philosophical thought experiment, sometimes referred to as the Theseus Paradox which was discussed by the Greek philosopher Plutarch in his book, Life of Theseus, during the first century. It explores the idea of identity by asking ‘if a ship would still be the same if every component had been replaced with a new one’. Centuries later, English Philosopher Thomas Hobbes expanded on this by posing the following query: Which ship would be the original Ship of Theseus if the original parts of the ship were collected and used to build another ship? According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, we may have an answer. The material used to build the new ship is different from that of the Ship of Theseus. The two ships only share the same space at the same time!
Omnipotent Paradox
Can a supreme entity with limitless power make a stone too heavy for him to lift? This 10th-century paradox by the Jewish philosopher Saadia Gaon says that if an omnipotent entity can do everything, then it should be capable of creating a task that it cannot execute. As a result, it cannot do everything. But if this being cannot create a task that it cannot do, it doesn’t have the power to do everything! Therefore, there is no omnipotent being. Pretty mind boggling, right!
Have you had your mind blown yet? We most definitely have.