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I think I came up with a paradox.

HexartesHexartes
edited 2013-05-05 01:41:45 in General
Let's say you have a bucket, and you're in a large, cubical room. In front of you are two small mounds, one containing dirt, the other containing sand. You have to carry  both mounds to the other end of the room without mixing them.

Which means that the empty bucket is simultaneously more useful than a bucket of sand or a bucket of dirt, and less useful. 

Think about it.

When the bucket is empty, it can be used to carry either the sand or the dirt, so it's more useful than a bucket with one or the other. However, just an empty bucket will bring you no closer to your goal of carrying the sand and dirt across the room, so it's also less useful than a filled bucket.

...

I'm sure there are like, a million flaws with that, so please point any you can think of out to me. 

Comments

  • Sredni VashtarSredni Vashtar
    “I'm surprised. Those clothes… but, aren't you…?”
    A bell is a cup until it is struck. An empty vessel is only an empty vessel until it is filled. The emptiness that makes an empty vessel is what gives it its purpose, yet ceases to exist once it fulfils its purpose. It is what is known as a sacrificial catalyst.

    Not quite a paradox, but a puzzling little logical loophole.
  • HexartesHexartes
    Huh, okay. Interesting.
  • TanyaTanya
    Pizza Dog
    Isn't it solved by the metaphysical introduction of the concept of "Purpose"

    That the bucket exists and can fulfill the objective of moving the sand and dirt is where it derives it's value. That the objective of moved dirt and sand exists is what drives up the value of empty buckets.
  • BunnyBunny
    Not a hybrid rabbit-skink spirit
    Well I would say that it falls apart when you add timeframes to it

    Because an empty bucket is more useful than a full bucket when you're attempting to pick up piles, but a full bucket is more useful when you're attempting to carry the piles to the other end of the room.

    So really, an empty bucket isn't simultaneously more and less useful, it's more useful when you need to pick up, and less useful when you need to carry. Both states are more useful than the other in different time periods, which negates the paradox.
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