R. Smullyan в "Satan, Cantor and Infinity", chapter 20 "But some paradoxes arise!" писал(а):
"I can't even get the first one," said Annabelle. "I can't see how the barber could either shave himself or not shave himself without contradiction, yet he must do one or the other. I don't know what to think! Is there something wrong with logic?"
"Of course not!" laughed the Sorcerer. "The solution to the barber paradox is so obvious that it's amazing that anyone can be fooled by it! And yet some very intelligent people have been taken in. This reveals an interesting psychological characteristic that's unfortunately only too common."
"Don't keep us in suspense," said Alexander. "What is the solution to the barber paradox?"
"I'll give you a hint," said the Sorcerer. "Suppose I told you that a certain man is more than 6 feet tall and also less than 6 feet tall. How would you explain that?"
"I would say that it's impossible," replied Alexander. "Well, doesn't that give you an idea how to solve the barber paradox?"
"Don't tell me," said Annabelle, "that the solution simply is to deny that there is such a barber?"
"Of course!" said the Sorcerer. "What else? Here I have given you contradictory information about a certain barber and asked you to explain the contradiction. The only explanation is that what I have told you is not true!"
"I never thought of that!" said Annabelle.
"Nor I," said Alexander.
"Exactly!" said the Sorcerer. "And that's the unfortunate psychological characteristic to which I referred—the tendency to believe what one is told."
"Are all the other paradoxes solved the same way?" asked Annabelle.
"More or less," replied the Sorcerer.