This apparently impossible object, located in Gotschuchen, Austria, projects into a Penrose triangle
The Hangman's Paradox: A Mental Adventure
Sorry, but there are 100+ answers on here, so forgive me if I have repeated an answer.
With that out of the way, my favorite would have to be the Unexpected Hanging Paradox. Not only is it immensely clever, but it is also sort of story-based and has a satisfying ending. But it’s so complex, it has never been solved to this day.
It’s also known as the ‘surprise test paradox’ or the ‘prisoner’s paradox’.
Here it is:
A judge tells a condemned prisoner that he will be hanged at noon on one weekday in the following week but that the execution will be a surprise to the prisoner. He will not know the day of the hanging until the executioner knocks on his cell door at noon that day.Having reflected on his sentence, the prisoner draws the conclusion that he will escape from the hanging. His reasoning is in several parts. He begins by concluding that the "surprise hanging" can't be on Friday, as if he hasn't been hanged by Thursday, there is only one day left - and so it won't be a surprise if he's hanged on Friday. Since the judge's sentence stipulated that the hanging would be a surprise to him, he concludes it cannot occur on Friday.He then reasons that the surprise hanging cannot be on Thursday either, because Friday has already been eliminated and if he hasn't been hanged by Wednesday noon, the hanging must occur on Thursday, making a Thursday hanging not a surprise either. By similar reasoning he concludes that the hanging can also not occur on Wednesday, Tuesday or Monday. Joyfully he retires to his cell confident that the hanging will not occur at all.The next week, the executioner knocks on the prisoner's door at noon on Wednesday — which, despite all the above, was an utter surprise to him. Everything the judge said came true, and he is hanged promptly.
See? That is probably the smartest paradox I’ve read. Other versions will have a student thinking about a surprise test in a similar manner, or a surprise fire drill.
And that’s not even the end of it all. If you want to be seriously mindblown, read this article about the paradox in full detail - Unexpected hanging paradox . The logical and epistemological analysis of the paradox will take your head on a wild ride.
What Is The Most Awesome Paradox
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