Epiminedes is one of my favorite Greek heroes. Only he wasn't Greek, he was from Crete. And as a Cretan, he is known for saying, publicly, "all Cretans are liars". (So, was he lying?)
We had a great discussion about this yesterday. My daughter Megan thinks it is so cool that something can be true and not true at the same time. It relates directly to Godel's Theorem and [the limit of] the power of logic. We visited the island of the Knights and Knaves ("I am a knave!"), and the famous Monty Hall Problem. ("Should you switch? Yes, you Cretan!") Here's a sample problem, courtesy of my friend Yogi:
Stay tuned for an answer... |
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