What is Jevons Paradox? The Jevons Paradox is when making something work better actually leads to using more of it, not less. Imagine you have a really fast bike that makes you use less energy to speed up. Because it’s so good, you want to bike everywhere, even more than before. Now, even though your bike is better at saving energy, you end up using it so much that you may use even more ener... »
Introduction to the Painter’s Paradox Imagine a kind of puzzle that seems like it can’t be solved because it twists around on itself. This type of puzzle, called a logical paradox, can be super interesting. They make us think hard about problems in fresh ways. The Painter’s Paradox is one type of these puzzles. Even if it’s not as famous as the “This statement is fals... »
What is the Ellsberg Paradox? Have you ever had to make a choice, but felt unsure because you didn’t have all the information? That’s a bit like what the Ellsberg Paradox is all about. In simple terms, the Ellsberg Paradox is a puzzle from the world of economics that shows how people behave differently when they don’t know all the risks. Imagine you’re choosing between two ... »
What is the Drinker Paradox? The Drinker Paradox is a bit like a brain-teaser that trips up your mind. Imagine you’re in a bar, and someone tells you: “There’s at least one person here, so that if they are drinking, everyone in the bar is drinking.” This sounds simple, doesn’t it? But when you think about it more, it becomes tricky and hard to wrap your head around. I... »
What is Curry’s Paradox? Curry’s Paradox is like a mind game that makes you scratch your head, thinking, “How can that be right?” If you’ve ever played with a Rubik’s cube, you know that there are certain moves that, if not done correctly, can mess up the entire puzzle. In the same way, Curry’s Paradox shows us that there can be a twist in logic that messe... »
What is Catch-22 Paradox? The Catch-22 Paradox is a tricky problem that comes from a set of rules or conditions that contradict each other. It’s like being stuck between a rock and a hard place, where no matter what you do, you just can’t win. Imagine you need a passcode to get a passcode – it doesn’t make sense, right? That’s the Catch-22 Paradox. It’s like a p... »
What is the Berry Paradox? The Berry Paradox is a puzzle that comes up when we talk about how we name numbers using words. Imagine trying to pick the very smallest number that no one can describe using less than eleven words. Sounds simple, right? But there’s a twist. When we say “the smallest number that cannot be defined in fewer than eleven words,” we’ve actually just gi... »
What is Goodman’s New Riddle of Induction? The New Riddle of Induction is a puzzling question that makes us think hard about how we learn things from what we see and experience. When we use induction, we take specific things we’ve observed and jump to general conclusions about them. For example, after seeing several white swans, we might conclude that all swans are white. But if we suddenly find a... »
What is The Incomprehensible Explanation Paradox? The Incomprehensible Explanation Paradox occurs when we try to explain something fully. Imagine you have to explain how a clock works. You might start by describing the hands and numbers, but to explain everything, you might end up talking about how gears work, the history of timekeeping, and even the physics of time itself! If you go too deep, the... »
What is The Irreconcilable Difference Paradox? Imagine you have two friends who both give you different versions of a story. They both seem honest, and you trust them both, but their stories can’t both be true. This is a little like the Irreconcilable Difference Paradox. It’s when you have two ideas or facts that are both supported by good reasons, but they don’t match up togethe... »