3 Paradoxes

The paradox content imperative is a blast to expose students to. Here are three famous paradoxes to delight and confound your deep thinkers:

1. This sentence is false.
2. In a town, there is one male barber. Every male in town keeps himself clean-shaven. Some men shave themselves. The rest go to the barber. The barber shaves only those men in town who do not shave themselves. Does the barber shave himself?
3. There are two sign-makers, Cellini and Bellini. Cellini always writes false signs, and Bellini always writes the truth. A sign says “Cellini wrote this.” Is this possible?

My favorite student comment after working through the these: “My brain just exploded!”

Here’s a less mind-blowing bonus from Yogi Berra: “Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.”

Do you have some fun paradoxes to share with students? Let me know at ian@byrdseed.com!