Editing 1153: Proof
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:'''Arrow paradox:''' At any instant in time, an arrow suspended in mid-air is no different from an arrow in motion. How, then, can motion occur? (Answer: {{w|calculus}} [all objects have a velocity].) The lawyer presumably intends to use this argument to prove that his client could not have used the arrow to commit murder. Another possibility was that it is impossible to hit a person in motion. | :'''Arrow paradox:''' At any instant in time, an arrow suspended in mid-air is no different from an arrow in motion. How, then, can motion occur? (Answer: {{w|calculus}} [all objects have a velocity].) The lawyer presumably intends to use this argument to prove that his client could not have used the arrow to commit murder. Another possibility was that it is impossible to hit a person in motion. | ||
β | :'''Dichotomy paradox:''' Suppose I need to go from point A to point B. First I must walk halfway there: half of the distance between A and B. Then I must walk half the remaining distance, which would bring me to three-quarters of the original distance; then I must again walk half the now-remaining distance to reach a point seven-eighths of the way from point A, and so on. Because I would have to take an infinite number of non-zero steps, I will never reach point B. By the same argument, the lawyer in the | + | :'''Dichotomy paradox:''' Suppose I need to go from point A to point B. First I must walk halfway there: half of the distance between A and B. Then I must walk half the remaining distance, which would bring me to three-quarters of the original distance; then I must again walk half the now-remaining distance to reach a point seven-eighths of the way from point A, and so on. Because I would have to take an infinite number of non-zero steps, I will never reach point B. By the same argument, the lawyer in the cartoon can get closer and closer to the judge's table, but never reach it. |
There are two possible law vs math/logic puns in the comic, on the words "approach" and "proof." "{{w|Approach the bench}}" is a legal term meaning to have a private conversation with the judge; approach in calculus means an infinite process where a function value gets closer and closer to a {{w|Limit (mathematics)|limit}} value that it never actually reaches, reminiscent of Zeno's paradoxes. "Proof" is also ambiguous, with a different meaning in formal mathematics than in {{w|jurisprudence}}. See {{w|Proof (truth)}} and {{w|Mathematical Proof}}, for example. | There are two possible law vs math/logic puns in the comic, on the words "approach" and "proof." "{{w|Approach the bench}}" is a legal term meaning to have a private conversation with the judge; approach in calculus means an infinite process where a function value gets closer and closer to a {{w|Limit (mathematics)|limit}} value that it never actually reaches, reminiscent of Zeno's paradoxes. "Proof" is also ambiguous, with a different meaning in formal mathematics than in {{w|jurisprudence}}. See {{w|Proof (truth)}} and {{w|Mathematical Proof}}, for example. |