Paradoxes

by Gareth Southwell

Paradoxes

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Science

208 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2019

About the author

Gareth Southwell is a writer, illustrator and philosopher who lives in South Wales in the UK. He has a PhD in death, which has been read by exactly four people (including himself). His first novel MUNKi is just a thinly fictionalised version of this, with most of the boring bits taken out and replaced with robots and people swearing in Welsh. Sign up to his monthly email list for news, views, and free stories from the MUNKi universe. For more information on his sci-fi and philosophy writing, or his book cover and design work, please visit garethsouthwell.com .

Reviews

[Mehtap exotiquetv · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wenn ein Zwilling in Lichtgeschwindigkeit die Erde verlässt und wieder kommt, ist die Person so alt wie der Zwilling? Nein. Der reisende Zwilling ist deutlich jünger. Diese Art von Paradoxien aber auch mathematischer, Unmöglichkeiten, Entscheidungen und co werden näher erklärt. In diesem Buch steigt man ein in die Welt der Stirnrunzler.

[Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun overview of various paradoxes, or seeming paradoxes in math, science, philosophy. This really made me think a bit to understand some of the reasoning (and I still don't understand all of them).

Example - The Monty Hall paradox of choosing one of three doors - 2 with a goat behind them, the third with a new car. If you choose one and then have one of your non-choices open to show a goat, you have better odds of getting the car if you switch doors at that point. Totally non-intuitive and confusing even for math experts. I'll let you read the book to understand why (and then you can explain it to me...

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was pretty interesting although it made my brain go “what the …..”

[William Schram · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paradoxes is a book by Gareth Southwell. It is a fun romp through various thought experiments and other ideas used to emphasize their paradoxical nature.

I enjoyed the book. Thanks for reading my review, and see you next time.

[Ash · Rating 3 out of 5]

No es mi tipo de libro (lo sé, soy una mala filósofa), pero está bien.
Hay capítulos muy interesantes (como el último, sobre actuar y decidir), pero los que tienen que ver con la matemática (la mayoría) se me hicieron densos y difíciles de entender. Me da la impresión de que para hacer el libro visualmente atractivo y asequible zanjan algunos temas difíciles con demasiada premura, y no quedan muy claras las explicaciones (sobre todo cuando hablan de cómo resolver las paradojas).
Es un libro del que se pueden sacar recursos interesantes y curiosos, pero diría que me he aburrido con más capítulos de los que he disfrutado.
De todos modos reitero que no es el tipo de lectura que suelo disfrutar ni soy experta en esos temas. Tal vez otra persona le habría sacado más partido.

[Nick Navarre · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just picked this book up as a joke or even a "meh" book to stock the shelf. But, I read it. It was fun and very interesting. If you like thinking and you like thinking about thinking, this may be a book for you. Part history and part puzzle book, the author lays out the building blocks of paradoxes and critical thinking.

Great read, but definitely a brain squeeze.

[Caleb Mahlen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve studied a decent amount of philosophy, so I thought this would be a cute little reference for some of the famous paradoxes I’ve learned about (Monty Hall, Sorites, Zeno, etc.) I was happy to discover many more paradoxes that I never encountered before. Some of my favorites were the Two-Envelope Problem and Richard’s Paradox.

If I were being picky I would point out (as the author does) that many of the entries are not paradoxes (eg the riddle of the missing dollar or Laplace’s Demon), but they’re still interesting and worth reading about so I’m glad they were included.

I also enjoyed the author’s writing style—he gave just enough information to give you the general idea, but not too much to make it boring. For the entries where I wanted to know more, I was able to go to Wikipedia and learn more without feeling like there was a knowledge gap to bridge.

Speaking of which, there were a few paradoxes where the author seemed to imply were resolved when they were not. For example, I got the impression that he thinks the Two-Envelope Paradox is solved by the section titled “Flaw in the Probability Argument”, but other sources say that there is no generally accepted solution.

Nonetheless, I really enjoyed the book and I learned a lot. It exceeded my expectations.

[Mariela Stancheva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Книгата съдържа известни парадокси с тяхното представяне, техния автор и коментари върху източника на противоречието.
За съжаление на места дали поради това че преводът не е добър (тъй като аз четох българския превод) или има някакви печатни грешки, но има фактически разминавания със научната литература по въпроса.
Събрани са интересни парадокси в 8 раздела. Тук присъстват и проблеми, които не са точно парадокси. Например в математическия раздел присъства популярно изложение на диагоналния аргумент за съпоставимост на естествените и рационалните числа. По-скоро бих казала, че в математическата секция са изложени няколко математически твърдения, които на нетренирания ум биха се сторили контраинтуитивни.
Като изключим математическата секция и секцията на вероятностните "парадокси" за мен най-интересен беше парадокса за кораба на Тезей. Струва ми се изключително актуален в контекста на спора за авторските права между автори-хора и генеративния изкуствен интелект.

[Andrew Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the type of fun that will keep a series of good friends talking for hours into the night. The book is filled with familiar and unfamiliar paradoxes and sets them up in a clear concise manner allowing the reader to understand, if not be baffled by, the outline of why the paradox exists, and statistical or other verification of the why and wherefore of the paradox.

I giggled at the Monty Hall Problems and laughed at the idea of infinity, and still I was reminded of the "I, Mudd" Star Trek episode where paradox destroys AI and the multiple books and movies that use the infinite loop to tie up a computer ad nauseum.

A solid 4 for the fun read, and keep it around with your friends, it is sure to make the night one full of discussion.

[Emerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and mind bending overview of influential paradoxes. I appreciate the division of the chapters, each one is a distinct overarching theme. Each paradox felt well described - some were more obvious to me and others I'm still grappling with, but I think that's the point. This book would do very well in a group discussion. I found myself wanting to talk through the ideas with others.

I will reread it at some point when I have more time to stew in my thoughts

[Martina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm giving the book 5 🌟 despite the fact that some chapters were a bit boring. Others were so very exciting and presented such thought-provoking paradoxes and ideas, so in my opinion they made up for the "boring" chapters.
I love how well every paradox/idea was described. Fantastic job! I can't imagine how much work had Mr. Southwell & Co. have put into this book! It's not a quick read, but it's very entertaining and stimulating.

[Nate Wynter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would have loved this book when I was just starting philosophy as a teenager, but as a young adult, it was more a fun novelty. That is not to say it has no value; I my past self was very entertained, and there are lessons and thought experiments in here that I quite enjoyed.

[José Luis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me ha parecido mucho más ameno el último tercio del libro que todo lo anterior, pero es una lectura entretenida.

[Ronald Chapman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is above my station. I have to read it several times just to get a grasp, but it gets my attention even though it’s beyond me, but I enjoyed it immensely.

[David Rios · Rating 4 out of 5]

bastante divertido

[Jarred · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-summarized book of paradoxes (broadly defined) that kept things light without sacrificing what’s interesting about these problems. As far as I am aware, the representations of the philosophical concepts are done justice to, which is important since secondary sources can badly misrepresent primary philosophy texts. Then again, I haven’t read all of the primary sources represented in the text. Nevertheless, it will give you plenty to think about and s a fun book. I suggest picking it up and reading one at a time, giving yourself space to ponder and engage with the questions raised.

[Zofia · Rating 4 out of 5]

i will say, some pages of this book flew so far over my head, but who would you even be if you fully understood the topic of philosophy?☝🏻such a fun book that will really make you think and question things, it creates plenty of conversation starters for friends and family, and overall has a little something for everybody no matter what you believe in or find fascinating ٩( ᐛ )و highly suggest reading for yourself and seeing what puzzles and paradoxes you or a friend can think through!

[Marcial Pedrero Salas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hicieron de un tema muy interesante algo aburrido.