Paradoxes

Definition of "paradox": a person or thing exhibiting apparently contradictory characteristics.

I tried to think of some interesting paradoxes. Even the word which is the plural of PARADOX is a little bit of an oddity, as it is not paradoxs or paradoxii..

Maybe you never give these things much thought, but I find them interesting. Add some interesting paradoxes of your own if any come to mind.



--Some time ago I posted this entry in my blog which discussed how even the experts do not know and even offer contradicting opinions on something that seems so simple that we take it for granted. Why is the moon oriented such that the same side of it always faces towards earth? Here was that discussion -- but I actually have one additional answer for this paradox that I did not include that I think is the correct one, but you figure it out...
http://bubravesblogger.blogspot.com/2009/12/simple-question-hard-answer.html



--Why do joints pop and make noises?? - sometimes so loudly that it seems something must be tearing inside, yet almost all joint popping seems to be relatively harmless?
This isn't an issue on the same level as trying to achieve world peace, but it is an interesting question that is debated even in our modern era by the top experts.
Several explanations are offered, some of which are rather absurd.
As this page suggests, one theory is that certain joint movement causes bubbles of gas to form and pop like a balloon.
http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/joint.html

This is actually the most laughable of all the explanations, since air or gas inside the joint would be easy to spot on any xray -- and it has never, ever been documented unless it was injected into the joint or entered through an opening into the joint. But still -- note that this is a governmental expert information web page and there are top experts who still hold to this air bubble explanation because none of the others are really much better.
Any theory that has to do with air in the joints is 100% stupid and cannot be true.

The next possible explanation offered in that link revolves around the tendons causing the popping. I suppose a tendon could make a noise, but it is so clear that the noises we're talking about come right from the joint itself that tendons just don't play any part. Strike two on the person who wrote that article in the link.

The next possible explanation is that rough or uneven surface in the joint is popping - like the noise a washboard makes if you drag something over it...but then why does a joint generally just pop ONCE only then it won't pop again for a while?
Anyway -- many joint that pop have been opened surgically and they have NO washboard like rough spots!
Sorry, Library of Congress writer -- strike three!

Some others have said the cartilege is ripping or tearing - but that's equally absurd because a few joint pops would then cause irreparable harm, while the truth is people can pop their joints a million times and they remain healthy.

Maybe the cartileges snap and pop the way the lid on an opened jar of pickles does when you test to see if it's still sealed. This possibility is hard to rule out, but since many smaller joints that pop have absolutely NO movable cartilege parts, then it still cannot really explain the phenomenon.

Maybe joints squirt their fluid around in odd ways causing the noise, sorta like you can do squirting water or coffee around inside your mouth -- although the presence of some air bubbles in your mouth obscures adequate testing in that way.

Lastly -- one theory says that joint fluid simply has an unusual characteristic that are next to impossible to demonstrate in a lab but happens inside the joint, where the fluid itself pops the same way ice pops under your feet when you walk on a lake.

Thankfully most experts are honest and will say they just don't know, but next time you see your orthopedic doctor throw this one at him and see how he answers it.



--Here's one that's paradoxic on two levels....the Big Bang...
First if you ask someone how did all the mass or matter in the universe come into being, one of the most common answers will be "the Big Bang".
But -- that is wrong -- maybe you can accept the Big Bang as an explanation of how all the mass or matter got distributed where it's at...but you are still left without an answer of how it got there in the first place. If there was a Big Bang, then there had to be a whole lot of mass just sitting there waiting to go "BANG".
I still have never heard any decent answer from a scientist as to how the matter got there in the first place...and I am open to any hints as to whether anyone has a good theory.
Of course there is a theory that's been around a long time, it's never been disproven, and there really isn't any evidence that goes against it -- in fact as scientific evidence accumulates, this older theory actually appears to be the only one we really have, yet it is currently considered unconstitutional to even discuss let alone teach this theory in public schools!!

OK -- let's presume there was a Big Bang -- then does that explain everything?? Nope -- not by a longshot...there's way too little mass in the universe to fit the patterns of movement observed, and a big bang of any kind results in chaos and declining order, not precise, almost carefully designed order among stars, solar systems, and galaxies. Try it yourself...take a bunch of stuff in your back yard, blow it up, and see for yourself -- it all gets more and more random and small as you blow it up -- it doesn't get highly ordered and working in many tiny, precisely functioning units way out there where it landed.

So the Big Bang is a paradox...lots of people accept it as fact, yet it doesn't do a thing to explain the origin of all the matter we see and it really can't explain much of anything we see without constantly patching it up with new theories added on...
http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/guidry/violence/darkmatter.html

As for where does matter come from if there were no metter there before....well, actually science DOES have a possible answer...you decide. It is called the "Uncertainly Theory" or "Heisenbery Uncertainty Principal".
http://www.orsc.edu.cn/~liu/ut.pdf

Here's a simpler explanation...
http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncertainty_principle

Simply stated - it says that matter CAN and DOES come into being spontaneously -- and can be demonstrated on a micro particluar level. However whether it can happen on a massive level such as with all the matter in the universe -- this is kinda difficult to perceive - but given enough eons of time, couldn't even the most unlikely event occur? You decide.



--There are other paradoxes like why are people who have so much constantly miserable?? You know, the wealthy, the famous, the superstars who are always looking for something, just anything in life that might satisfy the emptiness. Often they commit suicide despite having "everything a person could want".
I once was asked by an African immigrant who had just come from Nigeria but who noticed something quite inexplicable here in America...
"why is it that your people have everything, even the poorest among you are wealthy in comparison to my people, yet they are constantly miserable, whining, complaining, and wanting something more?"
You decide............



-The final paradox is this....how can a fan of a team be so continuously negative toward their team...this paradox will never be understood.
Coach Les acknowledges when he has great fans...mentions them all the time!
The great ones are not the ones who whine constantly.