Glastonbury Magic Blog

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If there was a survey which asked people “whether or not they told the truth to opinion polls”, and if the overwhelming majority said that they did not, what would we make of it?

If the response was true, then it would be false, and if the response was false, then it would be true.

Imagine a man makes a response, saying, “No, I don’t tell the truth to opinion polls.”

This response cannot be false.  But also, it cannot be true.

The response can’t be false, because, if false, it would entail that he does tell the truth to opinion polls, in which case he wouldn’t have given that response.

But, if the response is true, then he must be lying (if it’s true that he doesn’t tell the truth to opinion polls, then he wouldn’t admit to it).  Therefore, he must be lying in this instance, which means he really does tell the truth to opinion polls.  But then, if he really does tell the truth, then his response was true, which means he does not lie to opinion polls – in which case his answer must be true, and so the analysis of the response as true begins again, and the whole thing goes on, ad infinitum.

An habitual liar therefore cannot sensibly answer the question in the negative, because, if the response is true, then it is false; and if it is false, then it is true.  The liar must therefore always respond by saying, “Yes, I tell the truth.”

And a person who does always tell the truth to opinion polls would also say, “Yes, I tell the truth.”

Therefore the only answer you can ever get from anyone regarding this question, regardless of whether they lie or not, is, “Yes, I tell the truth.”

So in this case we know the answers we should get, even before we ask the question (even if we don’t know the actual distribution of truth-tellers and fibbers).

Actually this is yesterday’s – Friday.  Still freezing here in Glastonbury.  When will this Winter go?!?

This nearly didn’t make it, as my camera was blundered into by a three-legged dog, but thankfully no harm done (thank you Willow!)

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Blog On The iPhone

I know.  The Spring Equinox is still far away, but there’s no harm in a little nostalgia for last Summer…

Winter seems reluctant to slip away, in Glastonbury at least.  Its bony fingers still claw at the ground, its gelid breath still chills the heart.  Brief appearances by Ye Sunne are few but wonderful to behold.  I didn’t see any creatures creep forth from their holes on Imbolc, but that’s principally because I was one of them.

OK, enough’s enough.. the graphic style of this blog, I have to admit, is rather underwhelming.  It just doesn’t look clear, or easy on the eye.  At least it should be wider, blah de blah..  A pimple on the blogosphere, all I can seem to manage at the moment is to briefly complain about its design.

So there’s another thing to go on the list, along with all the astro stuff.

“Note to self: make list of things to do – urgent.”  Douglas Adams called such a person a Worksop in The Meaning Of Liff.  Wasn’t it Margaret Thatcher who said that happiness is a “ticked-off list”?  As unlikely as it seems, isn’t there something a tad spiritual embedded in that?  For, what is “accomplishment”? etc etc

(*stifled yawn*)

- Procrastinator Magnus.