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Friday, December 4, 2009

Finding Nimoy


After contemplating Leonard Nimoy's "I Am Spock" and "I Am Not Spock" came up with this logic problem (link to Twitpic) which I'll be using on the Cracked.com "Topic" page for Leonard Nimoy.

1 comment:

  1. Just came across this one. So, let's say:

    A = Leonard Nimoy is Spock

    Therefore,

    ~A = Leonard Nimoy is not Spock

    We have both A and ~A, or:

    A & ~A

    We are presented with a logical contradiction as a true statement, equivalent to 1 = 0.

    In symbolic logic, if we can prove a logical contradiction in a particular system, then we can prove any statement at all. In other words, a logical contradiction implies anything.

    Therefore, if Nimoy is Spock and Nimoy is not Spock, it is a true statement to say, for instance, that I am a billionaire.

    Now where's my check?

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