06 February 2011

"The Absence Paradox"

If you are somewhere else, you are not here.
You are not in Rome; you are somewhere else.
Therefore you are not here.
Found in the Futility Closet.

2 comments:

  1. MelFebruary 7, 2011 at 4:37 PM

    Heh. If it can't be translated to another language and remain a paradox, it's not really a paradox.

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  2. AnonymousOctober 22, 2011 at 4:58 PM

    Ah, the lovely "four term" fallacy. I remember my old professor, Dr. Perry, using it this way (or thereabouts):

    Some babies are geniuses.
    That is SOME baby!
    Therefore, that baby is a genius.

    In the absence paradox, we are using the term "somewhere else" in two different ways, giving us the additional (fourth) term.

    Lovely!

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