Why does it always seem like the elevator is going down when you need to go up? Is it really true that 0.99999 . . . with an infinite number of 9s after the decimal point, is equal to 1? What do tea leaves and river erosion have in common, per Albert Einstein? Does seeing a bed of red flowers help prove that all ravens are black? Can we make sense of a phrase like “this statement is unprovable”?
Exploring these questions and many more, George G. Szpiro guides readers through the puzzling world of paradoxes, from Socratic dialogues to the Monty Hall problem. Perplexing Paradoxes presents sixty counterintuitive conundrums drawn from diverse areas of thought—not only mathematics, statistics, logic, and philosophy but also social science, physics, politics, and religion. Szpiro offers a brisk history of each paradox, unpacks its inner workings, and considers where one might encounter it in daily life. Ultimately, he argues, paradoxes are not simple brain teasers or abstruse word games—they challenge us to hone our reasoning and become more alert to the flaws in received wisdom and common habits of thought.
Lighthearted, witty, and conversational, Perplexing Paradoxes presents sophisticated material in an accessible way for all readers interested in the world’s boundless possibilities—and impossibilities.
Зміст
Introduction
Part I. Quotidian Riddles: Making Sense of the Silly and Surprising
1. My Friends Are More Popular Than I Am: The Friendship Paradox
2. Waiting for Godot: The Elevator Paradox
3. The Pursuit of Happiness: The Paradox of Hedonism
4. Tip Now or Tip Later? The Good Service Paradox
5. Don’t Work Out to Lose Weight: The Exercise Paradox
Part II. Language Is Tricky: It’s Not What You Say, It’s What They Hear
6. Can’t Get No Satisfaction: Morgenbesser’s Double Negatives
7. Don’t Trust Friends: False Friends
8. Janus Words: The Antagonym Paradox
9. Pentasyllabic Has Five Syllables: The Grelling-Nelson Paradox
10. A Rose Is a Rose Is a Rose: The Langford-Moore Paradox
Part III. Unbelievable but True: There’s More Than Happy Endings
11. Whodunit? He Done It! The Paradox of Suspense
12. To Wallow in Sorrow: The Paradox of Tragedy
13. Moved to Tears: The Paradox of Fiction
14. Hidden by Quotation Marks: The Quinification Paradox
15. All Remaining Errors Are My Own: The Preface Paradox
Part IV. You Do the Math: Numbers Don’t Lie—Go Figure!
16. Chocolates from the Trays: The Axiom of Choice
17. Rounding Crooked Numbers: 0.999 . . .
18. On or Off? Thomson’s Lamp
19. Randomness Is Not Random: The Random Numbers Paradox
20. Zero or One? That Is the Question: Grandi’s Paradox
Part V. Let’s Get Physical
21. Why Is It Dark at Night? Olbers’s Paradox
22. Gathering in the Middle: The Tea Leaves Paradox
23. Shaken, Not Stirred! The Brazil Nut Effect
24. Cold and Colder: The Mpemba Paradox
25. Suck or Spout? The Sprinkler Paradox
Part VI. The Possibility of Probability . . . and Then There’s Statistics
26. A Cadillac or a Goat? The Monty Hall Paradox
27. To Treat or Not to Treat? Simpson’s Paradox
28. A Holistic Approach: The Two Envelopes Problem
29. Silver and Gold? Bertrand’s Probability Paradox
30. Are More Than Half the Babies Boys? Lindley’s Paradox
Part VII. Footloose Philosophy: Give It Some Thought
31. To Shave or Not to Shave . . . Oneself: Russell’s Barber Paradox
32. I Don’t Believe It: Moore’s Paradox
33. Known Knowns, Known Unknowns: Fitch’s Paradox
34. No ATM in the Desert: Parfit’s Hitchhiker
35. Plus, or Quus? The Kripkenstein Paradox
Part VIII. Loopy Logic: Making Sense of Seeming Nonsense
36. God Exists and the Moon Is Made of Cheese: Curry’s Paradox
37. To Know Nothing: Socrates’s Paradox
38. Is There a Point in Asking the Question? Meno’s Paradox
39. The Whole Truth and Nothing but the Truth: Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorem
40. Are All Ravens Black? Hempel’s Paradox
Part IX. Questions of Faith: The Small Print of Holy Texts
41. In the Name of the Lord, Your God: The Third Commandment
42. A Stone So Heavy . . . : The Omnipotence Paradox
43. Accumulate Wealth . . . but Don’t Spend It: The Paradox of Asceticism
44. Thou Mayest Steal: The Sermon on the Mount
45. All Is Perfect: The Smarandache Paradox
Part X. Legal Liabilities: Terms and Conditions Apply
46. When Two Rights Make a Wrong: The Blackmail Paradox
47. Guilty Until Proven Innocent: The Prosecutor’s Fallacy
48. The Right to Remain Silent: The Fifth Amendment
49. When in Doubt, Acquit: The Unspecified Offense Paradox
50. Can Two Wrongs Make a Right? The Holistic Trial Paradox
Part XI. The Economics of the Unexpected: It Stacks Up . . . but Does It Balance?
51. Sell a Lot and Make No Profits: Bertrand’s Economics Paradox
52. Doing More with Less: Jevons’s Paradox
53. Optimal Liberalism: Sen’s Paradox
54. Private Vices, Publick Benefits: Mandeville’s Paradox
55. Tightening One’s Belt: The Paradox of Thrift
Part XII. Puzzling Politics: The Vexing Mathematics of Democracy
56. Who Should Win? Condorcet Cycles
57. More Seats or Fewer? The Alabama Paradox
58. To Abstain from Elections: The Nonvoting Paradox
59. Packing and Cracking: Gerrymandering
60. How Can One Be a Democrat? Wollheim’s Paradox
Epilogue
Postscript
Bibliographic Notes
Index
Про автора
George Szpiro (Ph.D., mathematical economics and finance, Hebrew University) has for the past thirty years worked as correspondent of the Swiss daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung, which has a readership of 500k. He is the author of Kepler’s Conjecture (John Wiley, 2003), Numbers Rule (Princeton University Press, 2010) and Pricing the Future (Basic Books 2011), among others.Більше електронних книг того самого автора / Редактор
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