rattus rattus’ blog

This sentence does in fact not have the property it claims not to have.
— Robert Boeninger

A wonderful example of a not so obvious self-contradictory sentence. It is discussed in Metamagical Themas: Questing for the Essence of Mind and Pattern by Douglas R. Hofstadter. Some more examples of paradoxical statements, a great illustration of troublesome self-reference, and why it simply is all about this and that may be found in the h2g2‘s entry on “self-reference“.

It is easier to pull the trigger
than play guitar.

— El Mariachi in Desperado

Much has changed already.
A lot is going to change soon.

everything changes, everything stays the same
— k knight

And everything is nothing.

If we’re gonna make it through tomorrow
The solution is to make a change today
— Tesla

Let’s change this.

I pretty much have to live with the fact of being not understood.

There is a wonderful quote by Heinz von Foerster that I first learned about at a workshop in April 1991 in Vienna where he presented it in his opening talk:

The problem is not truth,
the problem is trust.

This is a very riddle. One can read it in many ways, and every time I look at it it’s likely to tell me another story. I am most thankful to Heinz von Foerster that he suggested 2 things for reading this riddle: Look up the words in an etymological dictionary, and … silence. He just looked into my eyes and smiled.

May I invite you to see for yourselves. Here is the quote with links to the Online Etymology Dictionary:

The problem is not truth,
the problem is trust.

In an opening address for a conference in 1990, see “ethics and second-order cybernetics“, Heinz von Foerster tells a story about the origin of the quote.

The band Yello has a great song called “Of course I’m lying” on their 1990 album “Flag”. Here are (at least) the lyrics:

Her name was Julie
When she took me on a ride in her old Chevrolet
Straight into a dusty sundown
I knew she was gonna make up one of her stories
And then she couldn’t believe that I told her
How much I love her lies and how much I love her games

Riding on the highway
You’re going much too far
You’re lying so much better
When you drive a car
You’re lying ’til the sundown
So look into my face
You’re lying (I love it)
…

I love your games
I love your lies
I love your games
Look in my eyes
Don’t believe I’m worried
When you’re playing all these games
I love your lies just hold me tight
I got no one to blame
You’re lying, I’m buying
I’m buying every word
I love your lies
I love your games

Take me to the ballroom
We’re dancing through the night
I’m in your arms, I love your lies
They make me feel so light
You’re lying to your shadow
So look into my face
You’re lying (I love it)
…

Take me in your arms and hold me tight just for tonight
I need no drugs I love your lies
You hide me from the night
You’re lying, I’m buying
I’m buying every word
I love your lies
I love your games

Julie stopped her car
The sun had gone and left one of these dark red skies
She looked in my eyes and with a smile in her face she said
“Of Course I’m Lying.
But I think I love you.”

Take me on the highway
You’re going much too far
You’re lying even better
When you drive a car
You’re lying ’til the sundown
So look into my face
You’re lying (I love it)
…

Today, in a conversation with a friend I wrote

If something leads to a contradiction
it is probably true.

I believe this is probably true.

The original text was in German but that does not render it less strange:

Wenn etwas auf einen Widerspruch hinausläuft,
ist es vermutlich wahr.

“No answer is an answer.” (rattus rattus : )
We can read this in many ways. Though, if one says “No.” I’d take it for an answer. Even if the question was: “Do you answer?”

Luckily, this simple paradox again and again leads to fruitful discussions:

Karen Kastenhofer once sent in a quote of some lines of e.e. cummings:

when god decided to invent
everything he took one
breath bigger than a circus tent
and everything began

when man determined to destroy
himself he picked the was
of shall and finding only why
smashed it into because

Karen then asked if anyone dares to answer.

My immediate answer was: No.
Karen replied (maybe wittily) with “O.K., this [answer] was unmistakable. Does anyone else dare to answer?”

Some did and some did not. Yet, every answer is no answer and no answer is an answer. Thus, I wrote a poem as an answer to Karen and e.e. cummings:

Don’t search for contradiction in others, you have found it already.

there him was in her mind full
fear, hope and reason threaded
together a place that was and
because of her will – be

there where no man can reach
shall truth be kept hidden
for only trust in the was
keeps what began at a living
life.

Or, as e.e. cummings is said to have written:
No need to “stand with your lover on the ending earth”.