paradox: A paradox is a phrase or group of statements that seem self-contradicting, or defy logic. A paradox may sometimes defy logic as well as possibly expose the truth to a situation. Paradoxes can be partially true and false which generally make them hard to accept or find a definite answer. For example, when a person is standing in a doorway and someone says, "She's in the room" that statement is hard to totally accept, and it is also hard to fully deny. Instead it is acceptable to partially agree with the paradox, and partially disagree, as well as it is alright to say that she is neither in the room nor out of the room.
Good examples of paradoxes were in 1984 by George Orwell. Orwell says, "War is Peace." "Freedom is slavery." and "Ignorance is strength." These sayings contradict themselves because, slavery and freedom are exact opposites, however the statement suggests that freedom is essentially slavery. This statement defies logic because you cannot be bonded and yet have freedom, so therefore there is a paradox in the statements given above because in 1984 they were used by the government and Big Brother to tell people not to question, and that they should be content with the fact that their country was at war, that freedom is not all that great, and that in being ignorant you are strong.
However, these statements are false, but useful for the purposes of Big Brother I suppose.
That image is just PERFECT!Thanks Rachel!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Margaret and your examples are perfect as well!
ReplyDeleteGood job Rachel, I feel much better about paradox now. The examples and pictures really helped cement the concept of paradox.
ReplyDeleteI really like your picture as said by everyone else! You made your definitions and explanation really clear, which really helped get the full concept around Paradox. I also like how well you talk about 1984 in here. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAnother example of a paradox would be how society pressures us to look a certain way and be a certain way, yet we hold this idea of uniqueness and you have to be true to yourself.
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ReplyDeleteThis is really good! I am able to understand paradox better especially through the examples and the picture you used! And also another simple example would be 'bittersweet' :)
DeleteThe way you described a paradox as "defying logic" really made sense to me. Thanks a lot!! And diverting from everyone's compliments towards your picture example, I really liked your examples from 1984. :p
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