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Re: Math posers. Re: An new and very interesting intellectual game!

Subject: Re: Math posers. Re: An new and very interesting intellectual game!
From: Mark Brader
Date: Mon, 13 Jun 2005 07:43:19 -0000
Newsgroups: sci.math, sci.logic, rec.org.mensa, uk.org.mensa, rec.puzzles
Another "Mark" and I (Mark Brader) wrote:
>>> Women shave too.
>> They can; this one evidently doesn't.
> Hence the paradox. Say 'this one' doesn't shave. Then 'this one' has to 
> shave herself, as she herself doesn't shave herself.

Sigh.  Read it again -- *this* is the wording V. posted:

  The barber who shaves all men who don't shave themselves, and no-one else.

If "men" means adult males, there is no inconsistency, provided that the
barber (1) is not an adult male, and (2) does not shave himself/herself.

> Incidentally, we've been misinformed. The wikipedia page 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barber_paradox refers specifically to a male 
> barber...

The cited page was <                                en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox>, not that
one.  Wikipedia.org appears to be down or unreachable at the moment,
so I can't confirm (or correct) what it says there, but it sure
wouldn't be the first case of multiple pages there addressing the
same topic in inconsistent ways.
-- 
Mark Brader | "Canadians do not exclaim.  The exclamation point is
Toronto     |  removed from our word-processing programs at the border
msb@xxxxxxx |  and sold back to the Americans for scrap."  --Matthew Hart

My text in this article is in the public domain.

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