For Our Tom :

[guppie9]

He gets a barber from another town OR he is bald!

 

[Tom]

Nope. If he was bald, then he wouldn't cut his hair, but it says he cuts the hair of all those who don't cut their hair.

Everybody in town either cuts their own hair, or he cuts it. He cuts all those and only those in town that don't cut their own.

There's a famous philosopher who was stumped on this for 7 years but then solved it, so don't spend too much time on it yourself.

 

[Moosie]

I know the price doesn't matter. But I was wasting yout time with a question that had not answer like you were wasting mine

 

[mtmiller]

There's a famous philosopher who was stumped on this for 7 years but then solved it, so don't spend too much time on it yourself.

Tell me his name please.

 

[The Hedgehog]

I suggest something a wee bit more useful. Take this test.

I aced it on the first try.

 

[smalls]

Tell me his name please.

Apparently someone gave the riddle to Dubya on inauguration night.

 

[Spitz]

I got 15/16. They can be tricky buggers. Good thing I'm not in the dating scene or I'd have to make the move that Crocodile Dundee pulled to be sure of who I was going to go out with.

It's probably good that you got a perfect score Greenhorn. What's that saying . . . ? "Fool me once . . .?

 

[Dinkshooter]

I suggest something a wee bit more useful. Take this test.

I aced it on the first try.

Crap I missed 2. But the good way, when in doubt i called them men.

 

[Oak]

Crap I missed 2. But the good way, when in doubt i called them men.

Yep, me too. Better safe than sorry.

 

[Tom]

Darn it, I did bad. There's other ways to tell, besides looking at a picture, then you'll have a better idea if you like them too.

The philosopher was Bertrand Russell, it was a paradox for him, but he figured it out.

 

[brymoore]

Here's one: If a barber cuts the hair of all those and only those who do not cut their own hair in town, who cuts the barber's hair? Him or somebody else?

Somebody Else.

 

[Tom]

Nope, if someone else cuts his, then he doesn't cut his. But, he cuts all those who don't cut their own (all those is including himself), so he would have to cut his. Right?

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/russell-paradox/#HOTP it was discovered in 1901 and solved in 1908. 7 years, they say he was never the same after that.

Here's the story: http://www.jimloy.com/logic/russell.htm

 

[MattK]

Tom- Just curious, how can it be resolved without changing conditions? It seems to me that the answer isn't an answer at all. Instead it is defined either as an inconsistancy (ie. has no answer) or constraints must be created so you can never have this inconsistancy. BTW- Isn't the inconsistancy always there, therefore it is consistent in and of itself?

 

[Tom]

... or constraints must be created so you can never have this inconsistancy. BTW- Isn't the inconsistancy always there, therefore it is consistent in and of itself?

That's what they did, to speak logically, we are not allowed to make a statement about something that includes itself. That's how they prevented the logical inconsistency. Then your BTW, yes, people always make illogical statements, so its always there, like you say. Someone being logical and saying its inconsistent, just serves to point out the statement, or that barber, is not logical. So, if we want to be logical, we don't make statements like that, i.e. ones that include themselves. It took Bertrand Russell 7 years to figure that out, but he did it really well when he did it, specifying a whole bunch of logic rules, etc.

Using logic is not everything, but its generally considered a good thing to use it correctly.