BrainDrain

"If the temperature this morning is 0 degrees and the Weather Channel says, "it will be twice as cold tomorrow", what will the temperature be?" I know what you're thinking: The answer is 2 times 0 which is, of course, 0. And that would be a paradox. But the real answer lies in knowing what the temperature dropped to 0 from. What was the temperature yesterday? If it was +20 degrees and went to 0 today, then the temperature dropped 20 degrees. Twice that is 40 degrees, meaning tomorrow's temperature will be -40 degrees. Mathematically: Let X represent yesterday's temperature. Let Y equal tomorrow's temperature. X - X = 0 0 - 2X = Y Nope, no paradox here. Just an incomplete formula. And it doesn't matter whether it's Celsius or Farenheit.

In order to truly make this a paradox, you would need to qualify at the beginning that both statements are either true or false. If both statements are true, it's a paradox because they cannot both be true. If both statements are false, it's a paradox because they cannot both be false. There is no such qualifer to this "puzzle"; therefore, it's philosophy. But it does provoke thought, doesn't it? That's what philosophy does.

As a newbie to this site, perhaps I don't understand. This was under the category of "sophisms", which means a faulty or flawed argument. It's like a bad syllogism: The **** crows. The sun rises. Therefore, the sun rises due to the ****'s crow. Compare with: If you answer correctly, I will return the child. If you answer incorrectly, I will eat the child. Therefore, I will (or will not) (return/eat) the child. There's not really a riddle here, so there can be no answer. But it does make for some interesting discussion, doesn't it?