Let’s start by clarifying the most important thing: What is a paradox? Strictly, a paradox is a statement or argument that contradicts itself or leads to a situation that is logically impossible.
Let’s take an example: “This statement is a lie.” The sentence is grammatically correct and seems direct enough. But if we look at its implications, we will see that it is anything but. By announcing yourself as a lie, you are claiming that it cannot be a lie, in which case it is true, which means that it really is a lie, which represents that it is not a lie, and so on … we would be in an infinite loop. This is a clear paradox.
Paradoxes have been a central part of philosophical thought for centuries, and they are always ready to challenge our interpretation of otherwise simple situations, turning what we might think to be true into probably impossible situations.
This is where those who oppose the specific conclusions of the scientific community are nurtured, for example, those who do not believe in vaccines, climate change or even evolution, use a superficial understanding of the nature of science to sow doubts about scientific consensus in those fields, leaving a certain public confused about who they should trust, and with very detrimental effects on the health of people and the planet. It is easy to be clear: you always have to trust science.
Still, we can pose a series of profound questions that represent paradoxes of science, as the universe is still full of great mysteries, many puzzling, surprising, and some infuriating. Did you know that physics is full of seemingly unsolvable paradoxes?
