Author Topic: Paradoxes.  (Read 14281 times)

I traveled back in time and killed my grandmother
i traveled back in time and did my grandmother

nice high quality picture


I like Zeno's paradoxes:


In the arrow paradox (also known as the fletcher's paradox), Zeno states that for motion to occur, an object must change the position which it occupies. He gives an example of an arrow in flight. He states that in any one instant of time, for the arrow to be moving it must either move to where it is, or it must move to where it is not. However, it cannot move to where it is not, because this is a single instant, and it cannot move to where it is because it is already there. In other words, in any instant of time there is no motion occurring, because an instant is a snapshot. Therefore, if it cannot move in a single instant it cannot move in any instant, making any motion impossible.



In the paradox of Achilles and the Tortoise, Achilles is in a footrace with the tortoise. Achilles allows the tortoise a head start of 100 metres. If we suppose that each racer starts running at some constant speed (one very fast and one very slow), then after some finite time, Achilles will have run 100 metres, bringing him to the tortoise's starting point. During this time, the tortoise has run a much shorter distance, say, 10 metres. It will then take Achilles some further time to run that distance, by which time the tortoise will have advanced farther; and then more time still to reach this third point, while the tortoise moves ahead. Thus, whenever Achilles reaches somewhere the tortoise has been, he still has farther to go. Therefore, because there are an infinite number of points Achilles must reach where the tortoise has already been, he can never overtake the tortoise.


A man was trying to sell a spear and a shield. When asked how good his spear was, he said that his spear could pierce any shield. Then, when asked how good his shield was, he said that it could defend from all spear attacks. Then one person asked him what would happen if he were to take his spear to strike his shield; the seller could not answer.


An irresistible force meets an immovable object.

Classic.
Irresistible? I think you mean unstoppable.

An irresistible force meets an immovable object.

I heard a Chuck Norris joke about that once...

I heard a Chuck Norris joke about that once...
What, did chuck norris punch Mt. Rushmore?

In the paradox of Achilles and the Tortoise, Achilles is in a footrace with the tortoise. Achilles allows the tortoise a head start of 100 metres. If we suppose that each racer starts running at some constant speed (one very fast and one very slow), then after some finite time, Achilles will have run 100 metres, bringing him to the tortoise's starting point. During this time, the tortoise has run a much shorter distance, say, 10 metres. It will then take Achilles some further time to run that distance, by which time the tortoise will have advanced farther; and then more time still to reach this third point, while the tortoise moves ahead. Thus, whenever Achilles reaches somewhere the tortoise has been, he still has farther to go. Therefore, because there are an infinite number of points Achilles must reach where the tortoise has already been, he can never overtake the tortoise.
I'm not too sure of how this works. I understand there are an infinite amount of minute places that the tortoise has been too that Achilles must also reach, but since the Tortois moves slower between each of these minute places, Achilles would eventually catch up to the same space as the tortoise, still following your rule.
However, between where the Tortoise is and the next absolutely minute point of space, Achilles can get there faster, so he should be able to overtake, in which case, he is not limited to reaching places the tortoise has allready been and the 'paradox' flips around on the toroise.
I'm just trying to get around how this paradox works, since, clearly, a person can overtake someone who is ahead. It's a matter of speed, not distance.


In the arrow paradox (also known as the fletcher's paradox), Zeno states that for motion to occur, an object must change the position which it occupies. He gives an example of an arrow in flight. He states that in any one instant of time, for the arrow to be moving it must either move to where it is, or it must move to where it is not. However, it cannot move to where it is not, because this is a single instant, and it cannot move to where it is because it is already there. In other words, in any instant of time there is no motion occurring, because an instant is a snapshot. Therefore, if it cannot move in a single instant it cannot move in any instant, making any motion impossible.
Motion requires a 4th dimension to occur, and that's time.  So obviously, if you remove that 4th dimension as you would with a snapshot, you cannot move.

Quote
In the paradox of Achilles and the Tortoise, Achilles is in a footrace with the tortoise. Achilles allows the tortoise a head start of 100 metres. If we suppose that each racer starts running at some constant speed (one very fast and one very slow), then after some finite time, Achilles will have run 100 metres, bringing him to the tortoise's starting point. During this time, the tortoise has run a much shorter distance, say, 10 metres. It will then take Achilles some further time to run that distance, by which time the tortoise will have advanced farther; and then more time still to reach this third point, while the tortoise moves ahead. Thus, whenever Achilles reaches somewhere the tortoise has been, he still has farther to go. Therefore, because there are an infinite number of points Achilles must reach where the tortoise has already been, he can never overtake the tortoise.
If Achilles gets to 100m in the time it takes the tortoise to go 10m, he's moving 10x faster than the tortoise and will overtake it very quickly.


Irresistible? I think you mean unstoppable.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irresistible_force_paradox

ir·re·sist·i·ble
–adjective
1.
not resistible; incapable of being resisted or withstood: an irresistible impulse.
« Last Edit: August 06, 2010, 08:21:02 PM by Niliscro »

What, did chuck norris punch Mt. Rushmore?

Chuck norris punched Mt. Rushmore once and hurt his hand.

I don't know why would would punch it because it's made out of stone.

The next statement is true.

The previous statement is false.