(Update: listen to my interview with Oxford professor Dr. Simon Saunders on this subject.)
Patriotism has been called the “last refuge of a scoundrel,” and for good reason. But over the last few years, I’m afraid that phrase has become outdated. Patriotism is now the second-to-last refuge. Quantum physics has become the last refuge of a scoundrel.
This will be the first post in a periodic series resolving paradoxes.
The paradox of Buridan’s ass is amusing and has many variations. It was originally formulated by Aristotle (or perhaps even earlier) but popularized by the French philosopher Jean Buridan. It’s considered a paradox even though no logical contradiction is involved – just an odd conclusion. Imagine the following: