Paradoxes
Jan was tired. Tired of being told that something was true when it was only true part of the time. Tired of being told something was false when it seemed to work as truth part of the time.
Could something be both true and false?
Does something depend on it's truthfulness depending on where you "stand" when you see it? For instance, is there someplace where any direction you go is north? Someplace where any direction you go is south?
Obviously, the answers are both "Yes". It depends on whether you are standing at the south pole or the north pole.
Copyright June, 2006 -- Al Lustie, AC Associates, Littleton CO
We have all been raised to believe we must take a position or succumb to general apathy and "drop out" of our social, cultural milieu.
No problem -- but the "positions" we seem to choose between are seldom valid. What if we don't have to choose between conservative or liberal, capitalist or communist, Christian or Muslim, etc. What if there are other choices that require us to THINK, REFLECT, and build a position that is uniquely our own?
A paradox is something that doesn't fit our way of seeing or understanding the world, the universe, science, physics or faith. Like light that sometimes exhibits wave formation and sometimes particles.
Paradoxes drive our thinking to ask new questions and look at issues from odd angles.