A baby girl is mysteriously dropped off at an orphanage in Cleveland in 1945. "Jane" grows up lonely and dejected, not knowing who her parents are, until one day in 1963 she is strangely attracted to a drifter. She falls in love with him. But just when things are finally looking up for Jane, a series of disasters strike. First, she becomes pregnant by the drifter, who then disappears. Second, during the complicated delivery, doctors find that Jane has both sets of sex organs, and to save her life, they are forced to surgically convert "her" to a "him." Finally, a mysterious stranger kidnaps her baby from the delivery room.
Reeling from these disasters, rejected by society, scorned by fate, "he" becomes a drunkard and drifter. Not only has Jane lost her parents and her lover, but he has lost his only child as well. Years later, in 1970, he stumbles into a lonely bar, called Pop's Place, and spills out his pathetic story to an elderly bartender. The sympathetic bartender offers the drifter the chance to avenge the stranger who left her pregnant and abandoned, on the condition that he join the "time travelers corps." Both of them enter a time machine, and the bartender drops off the drifter in 1963. The drifter is strangely attracted to a young orphan woman, who subsequently becomes pregnant.
The bartender then goes forward 9 months, kidnaps the baby girl from the hospital, and drops off the baby in an orphanage back in 1945. Then the bartender drops off the thoroughly confused drifter in 1985, to enlist in the time travelers corps. The drifter eventually gets his life together, becomes a respected and elderly member of the time travelers corps, and then disguises himself as a bartender and has his most difficult mission: a date with destiny, meeting a certain drifter at Pop's Place in 1970.
someone must have told him to go 'fck yourself.'
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Remember the String of Ears
"to the worm in horseradish, the world is horseradish."
So many good ones. I'll post the one I heard last, though it's not really a paradox.
Achilles vs the tortoise.
A tortoise challenges Aquilles to a 1-mile race. Since Achilles is incredibly fast, and the tortoise is really slow, Achilles lets the tortoise start the race with a 1-meter advantage.
When the race starts, the tortoise is winning by 1 meter. Even though Achilles is really fast, it takes him a while (t1 seconds) to get to where the tortoise started the race. But, by that time, the tortoise has already cover a little distance, since it does have some speed. So, it takes Achilles a bit more time to get there (t2 seconds). But, again, the tortoise has already left that spot when Achilles gets there, it's a little further ahead. Achilles sprints to get "a little further ahead", it takes him very little time (t3 seconds), but, once again, the tortoise has already left. Following this logic, the same situation happens infinite times.
Since that happens infinite times, it takes Aquilles (t1 + t2 + t3 + ... + tinfinite) seconds to catch up with the tortoise. Since that's an addition of infinite positive terms, it adds up to infinite. Therefore, it takes Achilles infinite seconds to catch up with the tortoise. Since it takes much less for the tortoise to get to the finish line, Achilles can't catch up in time, so he loses the race.
So many good ones. I'll post the one I heard last, though it's not really a paradox.Achilles vs the tortoise.A tortoise challenges Aquilles to a 1-mile race. Since Achilles is incredibly fast, and the tortoise is really slow, Achilles lets the tortoise start the race with a 1-meter advantage.When the race starts, the tortoise is winning by 1 meter. Even though Achilles is really fast, it takes him a while (t1 seconds) to get to where the tortoise started the race. But, by that time, the tortoise has already cover a little distance, since it does have some speed. So, it takes Achilles a bit more time to get there (t2 seconds). But, again, the tortoise has already left that spot when Achilles gets there, it's a little further ahead. Achilles sprints to get "a little further ahead", it takes him very little time (t3 seconds), but, once again, the tortoise has already left. Following this logic, the same situation happens infinite times.Since that happens infinite times, it takes Aquilles (t1 + t2 + t3 + ... + tinfinite) seconds to catch up with the tortoise. Since that's an addition of infinite positive terms, it adds up to infinite. Therefore, it takes Achilles infinite seconds to catch up with the tortoise. Since it takes much less for the tortoise to get to the finish line, Achilles can't catch up in time, so he loses the race.
This seems highly improbable. I know I shouldn't complain, but what is making the tortoise go so fast that he is able to stay a meter ahead of Achilles?
Or is that the paradox?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I hate the way you cling to ignorance and pass it off as innocence
1. Tortoise is really slow.
2. Achilles is really fast.
3. Tortoise can't be faster than Achilles.
4. Therefore, the tortoise can't cover more distance than Achilles can in a given amount of time.
5. Achilles should be able to catch up to the tortoise.
As soon as Achilles "can't catch up," the whole riddle suggests that, somehow, the tortoise is faster than Achilles.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I hate the way you cling to ignorance and pass it off as innocence
This seems highly improbable. I know I shouldn't complain, but what is making the tortoise go so fast that he is able to stay a meter ahead of Achilles?
Or is that the paradox?
It's not always a meter ahead of Achilles. Imagine that Aquilles, at the start of the race, looks up at the tortoise and thinks "I have to get there as fast as I can". He focuses on that position (he doesn' follow the tortoise with his eyes, just that initial position) and runs there. When he gets there, he looks for the tortoise, which is less than a meter ahead, but still ahead, and thinks "I have to get there as fast as I can". He focuses on the second position (again, that fixed position) and runs there. It takes him less time, since the distance is less than a meter, but when he gets there, the tortoise has moved, even less that before, but it's still ahead. By the time Achilles gets to that third position (it takes him very little time), the tortoise has moved to a forth position, even closer than before, but still ahead of Achilles. You can see how this can go on an infinite amount of times. The time it takes Achilles to get to the next position is always less than before, but it happens inifinite times, so if you add the times up, you reach infinity... right?
PS: Achilles doesn't stop to look for the tortoise, he does it on the run.
You also made another mistake. An infinite number of positive terms does not add up to infinity if the terms are being divided in half. Take 1 + 0.5 + 0.25 + 0.125 + ... as an example. They don't add up to infinity, they add up to an infinitely small number below 2.
I know, I'm studing "series" (I don't know if that's the term in english... an addition of infinite terms) and it was actually my professor that told us that paradox. That's the catch, an addition of infinite positive terms doesn't always add up to inifinity, that's why Achilles is actually able to catch up with the tortoise.
Haha it's a math paradox. It really baffled mathematicians at the time because they didn't know about series then, and how infinite terms can still add up to a finite number. No offense taken.
Everything teleports, obviously :P. Actually, according to quantum physics, that's kind of how it happens. The universe has a set "frames per second" and thing just change position from one frame to another, without covering the space in between. But that's another topic, and I'm not even sure if I got that right.
Another paradox, a non-math one this time :P.
-----
On a Friday, a teacher tells her students: "There's going to be a surprise test next week. It will last the whole day, but you won't know which day it will be until it starts".
Bummed, two kids who live nearby walk home together.
One says: "I hate surprise tests... At least we know it can't be on Friday"
The other: "How come?"
"Well, she said we won't know when it will be until we start it. So, when we left school on Thursday, we would know it would be on Friday. Thus, it can't be on Friday"
"Oh, look at that... cool"
A little further ahead, the second kid says:
"Wait a minute... if it can't be on Friday, it can't be on Thursday either"
"Why not?"
"When Wednesday ended, since we know it can't be on Friday, it would have to be on Thursday. So we would know beforehand if it was on Thursday, so it can't be then."
"That's true. And if it can't be on Thurday or Friday, by the same logic, it can't be on Wednesay either!"
"Or on Tuesday, or Monday"
"So, there can't be a surprise test next week. Awesome!"
-----
So, by that logic, there can't be a surprise test the following week. I still can't understand the error. I mean, surprise tests do exist.
In case you want another one: Let's say that you have to walk one meter. When you have walked half a meter you still have half a meter left. When you have walked half of that half meter you still have a quarter of a meter left. When you have walked half of that quarter of a meter you still have one eighth of a meter left, and so on.
However if you add up all of the finite distances traveled you will eventually get to .99 repeating. .99 repeating is the same number as 1, since two distinct numbers would have a number in between them.
I know, I'm studing "series" (I don't know if that's the term in english... an addition of infinite terms) and it was actually my professor that told us that paradox. That's the catch, an addition of infinite positive terms doesn't always add up to inifinity, that's why Achilles is actually able to catch up with the tortoise.
My teacher told me a similar riddle when we learned sequences and series. And series is the correct term for addition of terms
On a Friday, a teacher tells her students: "There's going to be a surprise test next week. It will last the whole day, but you won't know which day it will be until it starts".
Bummed, two kids who live nearby walk home together.
One says: "I hate surprise tests... At least we know it can't be on Friday"
The other: "How come?"
"Well, she said we won't know when it will be until we start it. So, when we left school on Thursday, we would know it would be on Friday. Thus, it can't be on Friday"
"Oh, look at that... cool"
A little further ahead, the second kid says:
"Wait a minute... if it can't be on Friday, it can't be on Thursday either"
"Why not?"
"When Wednesday ended, since we know it can't be on Friday, it would have to be on Thursday. So we would know beforehand if it was on Thursday, so it can't be then."
"That's true. And if it can't be on Thurday or Friday, by the same logic, it can't be on Wednesay either!"
"Or on Tuesday, or Monday"
"So, there can't be a surprise test next week. Awesome!"
The problem with this is that you cannot rule out the Friday test until Thursday. On Wednesday all you know is that it can either be on Thursday or Friday (since Friday is still an option) and thus the test could be on Thursday and still be a surprise.
Schrodinger's cat!!
Schrodinger was on acid. That is the only answer I have to that.
Asymptotes and all that explain everything, it's not traveling towards infinity it's traveling towards the limit of the equation, which is slightly larger than 1 meter.
I think you guys might have gotten to that point, but there was a LOT of text and it's pretty obvious.
In linear time, you move past the limit and the tortoise loses, no paradox.
In a small town in America, a person decided to open up his bar
business, which was right opposite to a church. The church & its
congregation started a campaign to block the bar from opening with
petitions and prayed daily against his business.
Work progressed. However, when it was almost complete and was about to
open a few days later, a strong lightning struck the bar and it was
burnt to the ground. The church folk were rather smug in their outlook
after that, till The bar owner sued the church authorities for
$2million on the grounds that the church through its congregation &
prayers was ultimately responsible For the demise of his bar shop,
either through direct or indirect actions or means.
In its reply to the court, the church vehemently denied all
responsibility or any connection that their prayers were reasons to
the bar shop's demise. In support of their claim they referred to the
Benson study at Harvard that inter-cessionary prayer had no impact !
As the case made its way into court, the judge looked over the
paperwork and at the hearing and commented:
'I don't know how I am going to decide this case, but it appears from
the paperwork, we have a bar owner who believes in the power of prayer
and we have an entire church and its devotees that doesn't.'
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I hate the way you cling to ignorance and pass it off as innocence
And Az, that is not a paradox, that is a bad case of irony
Yeah, it seems sort of incomplete. There's nothing that makes the bar owner contradict himself since it isn't discussed beforehand whether or not he believed in god. Also, it sort of implies that anyone who owns a bar can't believe in god, which is ridiculous.
I dunno, I saw it a couple months ago and I thought that it was clever.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I hate the way you cling to ignorance and pass it off as innocence
On a Friday, a teacher tells her students: "There's going to be a surprise test next week. It will last the whole day, but you won't know which day it will be until it starts".
Bummed, two kids who live nearby walk home together.
One says: "I hate surprise tests... At least we know it can't be on Friday"
The other: "How come?"
"Well, she said we won't know when it will be until we start it. So, when we left school on Thursday, we would know it would be on Friday. Thus, it can't be on Friday"
"Oh, look at that... cool"
A little further ahead, the second kid says:
"Wait a minute... if it can't be on Friday, it can't be on Thursday either"
"Why not?"
"When Wednesday ended, since we know it can't be on Friday, it would have to be on Thursday. So we would know beforehand if it was on Thursday, so it can't be then."
"That's true. And if it can't be on Thurday or Friday, by the same logic, it can't be on Wednesay either!"
"Or on Tuesday, or Monday"
"So, there can't be a surprise test next week. Awesome!"
But then having figured this out, wouldn't it be surprising if there actually was a test?
HOLY CRAP MY HEAD IS ON FIRE
-these are from portal 2 so this may be familiar
-new mission refuse this mission
-does a set of all sets contain its self
-this isn't but i've heard it before
what happens when an immovable object meats an unstoppable force.
Rise and rise again, until lambs become lions
"to the worm in horseradish, the world is horseradish."
Achilles vs the tortoise.
A tortoise challenges Aquilles to a 1-mile race. Since Achilles is incredibly fast, and the tortoise is really slow, Achilles lets the tortoise start the race with a 1-meter advantage.
When the race starts, the tortoise is winning by 1 meter. Even though Achilles is really fast, it takes him a while (t1 seconds) to get to where the tortoise started the race. But, by that time, the tortoise has already cover a little distance, since it does have some speed. So, it takes Achilles a bit more time to get there (t2 seconds). But, again, the tortoise has already left that spot when Achilles gets there, it's a little further ahead. Achilles sprints to get "a little further ahead", it takes him very little time (t3 seconds), but, once again, the tortoise has already left. Following this logic, the same situation happens infinite times.
Since that happens infinite times, it takes Aquilles (t1 + t2 + t3 + ... + tinfinite) seconds to catch up with the tortoise. Since that's an addition of infinite positive terms, it adds up to infinite. Therefore, it takes Achilles infinite seconds to catch up with the tortoise. Since it takes much less for the tortoise to get to the finish line, Achilles can't catch up in time, so he loses the race.
It'll grow bigger?
Just because he's telling the truth about what'll happen if he lies doesn't mean his lie won't make his nose grow... or something...
This seems highly improbable. I know I shouldn't complain, but what is making the tortoise go so fast that he is able to stay a meter ahead of Achilles?
Or is that the paradox?
I hate the way you cling to ignorance and pass it off as innocence
1. Tortoise is really slow.
2. Achilles is really fast.
3. Tortoise can't be faster than Achilles.
4. Therefore, the tortoise can't cover more distance than Achilles can in a given amount of time.
5. Achilles should be able to catch up to the tortoise.
As soon as Achilles "can't catch up," the whole riddle suggests that, somehow, the tortoise is faster than Achilles.
I hate the way you cling to ignorance and pass it off as innocence
It's not always a meter ahead of Achilles. Imagine that Aquilles, at the start of the race, looks up at the tortoise and thinks "I have to get there as fast as I can". He focuses on that position (he doesn' follow the tortoise with his eyes, just that initial position) and runs there. When he gets there, he looks for the tortoise, which is less than a meter ahead, but still ahead, and thinks "I have to get there as fast as I can". He focuses on the second position (again, that fixed position) and runs there. It takes him less time, since the distance is less than a meter, but when he gets there, the tortoise has moved, even less that before, but it's still ahead. By the time Achilles gets to that third position (it takes him very little time), the tortoise has moved to a forth position, even closer than before, but still ahead of Achilles. You can see how this can go on an infinite amount of times. The time it takes Achilles to get to the next position is always less than before, but it happens inifinite times, so if you add the times up, you reach infinity... right?
PS: Achilles doesn't stop to look for the tortoise, he does it on the run.
I know, I'm studing "series" (I don't know if that's the term in english... an addition of infinite terms) and it was actually my professor that told us that paradox. That's the catch, an addition of infinite positive terms doesn't always add up to inifinity, that's why Achilles is actually able to catch up with the tortoise.
I dunno, it's just a shitty paradox (no offense DieHardDiabloFan :)).
/achillesislazy
Edit: I guess this paradox depends on what your definition of "catch up" and "caught up" are.
I hate the way you cling to ignorance and pass it off as innocence
Another paradox, a non-math one this time :P.
-----
On a Friday, a teacher tells her students: "There's going to be a surprise test next week. It will last the whole day, but you won't know which day it will be until it starts".
Bummed, two kids who live nearby walk home together.
One says: "I hate surprise tests... At least we know it can't be on Friday"
The other: "How come?"
"Well, she said we won't know when it will be until we start it. So, when we left school on Thursday, we would know it would be on Friday. Thus, it can't be on Friday"
"Oh, look at that... cool"
A little further ahead, the second kid says:
"Wait a minute... if it can't be on Friday, it can't be on Thursday either"
"Why not?"
"When Wednesday ended, since we know it can't be on Friday, it would have to be on Thursday. So we would know beforehand if it was on Thursday, so it can't be then."
"That's true. And if it can't be on Thurday or Friday, by the same logic, it can't be on Wednesay either!"
"Or on Tuesday, or Monday"
"So, there can't be a surprise test next week. Awesome!"
-----
So, by that logic, there can't be a surprise test the following week. I still can't understand the error. I mean, surprise tests do exist.
jumbo shrimp!!
"to the worm in horseradish, the world is horseradish."
However if you add up all of the finite distances traveled you will eventually get to .99 repeating. .99 repeating is the same number as 1, since two distinct numbers would have a number in between them.
My teacher told me a similar riddle when we learned sequences and series. And series is the correct term for addition of terms
The problem with this is that you cannot rule out the Friday test until Thursday. On Wednesday all you know is that it can either be on Thursday or Friday (since Friday is still an option) and thus the test could be on Thursday and still be a surprise.
Schrodinger was on acid. That is the only answer I have to that.
I think you guys might have gotten to that point, but there was a LOT of text and it's pretty obvious.
In linear time, you move past the limit and the tortoise loses, no paradox.
business, which was right opposite to a church. The church & its
congregation started a campaign to block the bar from opening with
petitions and prayed daily against his business.
Work progressed. However, when it was almost complete and was about to
open a few days later, a strong lightning struck the bar and it was
burnt to the ground. The church folk were rather smug in their outlook
after that, till The bar owner sued the church authorities for
$2million on the grounds that the church through its congregation &
prayers was ultimately responsible For the demise of his bar shop,
either through direct or indirect actions or means.
In its reply to the court, the church vehemently denied all
responsibility or any connection that their prayers were reasons to
the bar shop's demise. In support of their claim they referred to the
Benson study at Harvard that inter-cessionary prayer had no impact !
As the case made its way into court, the judge looked over the
paperwork and at the hearing and commented:
'I don't know how I am going to decide this case, but it appears from
the paperwork, we have a bar owner who believes in the power of prayer
and we have an entire church and its devotees that doesn't.'
I hate the way you cling to ignorance and pass it off as innocence
Yeah, it seems sort of incomplete. There's nothing that makes the bar owner contradict himself since it isn't discussed beforehand whether or not he believed in god. Also, it sort of implies that anyone who owns a bar can't believe in god, which is ridiculous.
I dunno, I saw it a couple months ago and I thought that it was clever.
I hate the way you cling to ignorance and pass it off as innocence
But then having figured this out, wouldn't it be surprising if there actually was a test?
-these are from portal 2 so this may be familiar
-new mission refuse this mission
-does a set of all sets contain its self
-this isn't but i've heard it before
what happens when an immovable object meats an unstoppable force.
can God create a stone so massive, that even He cannot lift it?
(dont make this into a debate about religion)
"to the worm in horseradish, the world is horseradish."