Paradox Book

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Paradox: A Visual Essay Jordan Hill

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This was an interesting project, and the final for my Type 202 class. Our assignment was to choose two books, one for type, and one for images. Than we would combine them into a book of layouts.

Transcript of Paradox Book

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Pa r a d ox : A V i s u a l E s s ay

Jordan Hil l

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Good jokes. Good concepts. Good design. I think all three share a firm foot in the realm of paradox.

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“What the hell

were they doing

with a car on the moon?

You’re on the moon already!

Isn’t that far enough?”

-- Jerry Seinfeld

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To understand paradoxes is to be able to hold two conflicting ideas in your head at the same time. And maybe to

give both equal credibility. It’s about merging two things that seem incongruent into something that, some how,

makes sense. To me, it’s probably the highest act of creativity and is the most ready manifestation of curiosity and

understanding. It’s mental dexterity made tangible, and it produces the creative output I respect the most. To know

how square pegs can go into round holes is to understand that the world, and the perception of it, is a play thing.

The world, and how we view it, is malleable. Often times paradox and absurdity are mistaken for one another. I

think there’s a subtle, but important difference. Absurdity is paradox’s immature little brother. Absurdity is spine-

less. Two incongruent things are placed side-by-side. The supposed value is amusement from the randomness. Absur-

dity often seems a pale imitation of paradox. The Simpsons is paradox. Family Guy is absurdity. There’s a big dfer-

ence between saying “Sleep, that’s where I’m a viking!” and showing a chicken fight scene for 5 minutes. Paradox has

insight, absurdity lacks it. Paradoxes have meaning. (Which is confusing, in and of itself.) Paradoxes are greater than

the sum of their parts. If one and one is three, that last third is the conceptual leap that connects them. It’s where in-

sight lives, and it’s what causes my delight. It’s why Seinfeld is, and will always be, funny. It’s why Jennifer Daniel is

clever (and funny). It’s why I miss the old Simpsons. It’s about curation, choosing wisely, and presenting an audience

with something new. “Here, look at this thing you didn’t notice.” “Here, consider this thing in a way you haven’t

before.” A good paradox broadens our scope as people. It makes us question, but I think it also allows us to accept.

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The world, and how we view it, is malleable.

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The world, and how we view it, is malleable.

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Thingsaren’t

black&white. They are gray.

We’re gray.

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Amusement is one of the best parts of paradoxes, but their application is wider and more impor-

tant. I think an increased tolerance for paradox is a crucial requirement for a person to be able to

cope with the world today. Our access to information has created more paradoxes. We’ve made

pieces of conflicting information more accessible than any other point in time. Unfortunately,

we’ve mistaken cynicism as the tool we need to cope with this conflict of information. It seems

much more healthy to me to accept that two pieces of contradicting information can both some

how be true. It removes that default state of distrust, and displaces it with acknowledgement, re-

spect and insight.

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On Paradoxes

There’s an old joke. Two elderly women are at a Catskills mountain resort, and one of them says: “Boy,

the food at this place is really terrible.” The other one says, “Yeah, I know, and such small portions.”

Well, that’s essentially how I feel about life. Full of loneliness and misery and suffering and unhappi-

ness, and it’s all over much too quickly.

— Woody Allen, in Annie Hall

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How do we sort out the paradox that even though the our consumption lifestyle is causing global warming, most

people are unlikely to change their buying habits? Or the paradox that we make decisions that fill our lives with

more minutia, but the more bits we’re surrounded with, the poorer decisions we make? Or how about the paradox

that even though our hyper-connected world exposes us to more conflicting view points, we actually become more

narrow-minded because we choose places where others only agree with us?

Paradox is all around us.

There are more paradoxes than any other point in time. Maybe the most paradoxical thing is

that we need to create even more to understand the ones that are already there.

Respond accordingly.

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How do we sort out the paradox that even though the our consumption lifestyle is causing global warming, most

people are unlikely to change their buying habits? Or the paradox that we make decisions that fill our lives with

more minutia, but the more bits we’re surrounded with, the poorer decisions we make? Or how about the paradox

that even though our hyper-connected world exposes us to more conflicting view points, we actually become more

narrow-minded because we choose places where others only agree with us?

Paradox is all around us.

There are more paradoxes than any other point in time. Maybe the most paradoxical thing is

that we need to create even more to understand the ones that are already there.

Respond accordingly.

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Paradox can prove to be very revealing about human nature and the way that we speak.

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Paradox can prove to be very revealing about hu-

man nature and the way that we speak. If some-

one says to you “I’m a compulsive liar,” do you

believe them or not? That statement in itself is a

paradox, because it is self contradictory, which is

precisely what a paradox is.

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Paradox Concept: Starts with Shrimp

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Starting with some very basic examples of paradox will lead to the examination of how and why paradox is used in literature.

One of the most well known examples that teachers frequently use to introduce the idea of a paradox is a “jumbo shrimp”.”

Certainly, “jumbo”and “shrimp” are contradictory statements.

However, that is merely an introductory example, since a shrimp can certainly be jumbo sized in comparison to other smaller shrimp.

Still, it is an appropriate starting point for students who are new to the concept of paradox.

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Starting with some very basic examples of paradox will lead to the examination of how and why paradox is used in literature.

One of the most well known examples that teachers frequently use to introduce the idea of a paradox is a “jumbo shrimp”.”

However, that is merely an introductory example, since a shrimp can certainly be jumbo sized in comparison to other smaller shrimp.

Still, it is an appropriate starting point for students who are new to the concept of paradox.

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Here are some more examples of paradox in simple forms in order to further define the term “paradox”

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“What a pity that youth must be wasted on the young.” -

George Bernard Shaw

The person who wrote something so stupid can’t write at all

You shouldn’t go in the water until you know how to swim.

Nobody goes to that restaurant because it is too crowded.

“I can resist anything but temptation.”-Oscar Wilde

A rich man is no richer than a poor man.

Deep down, you’re really shallow.

The beginning of the end

Be cruel to be kind

I’m nobody.

Bittersweet

Wise fool

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Paradox in Literature: Animal Farm

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Have a better idea of what a paradox is now? Let’s continue on to some larger examples of

paradox that appear in works of literature. In doing so, examining their purpose will be-

come an important part of the process. In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, the words “All

animals are equal, but some are more equal than others” are part of the cardinal rules.

Clearly this statement does not make logical sense. However, the point of a paradox is to

point out a truth, even if the statements contradict each other. Orwell is trying to make

some sort of political statement here. Perhaps it is that the government claims that every-

one is equal when that is clearly false, or perhaps it is that individuals have skewed percep-

tions of what it means to be equal. The interpretation is up to the reader to decide.

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Paradox in Literature: Hamlet

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In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the title character

states “I must be cruel to be kind.” On the

surface, once again, this statement does not

seem to make much sense. Can an individual

convey kindness through evil?

However, Hamlet is speaking about his

mother, and how he plans to ultimately slay

Claudius in order to avenge his father’s death.

His mother is now married to Claudius, so of

course this will be a tragedy for her. However,

he does not want his mother to be the lover

of his father’s murderer (unbeknownst to her)

any longer, and so he believes the murder will

be for her own good.

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P u r p o s e o f P a r a d o x

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After examining the examples from works of literature, one will see that a paradox is not

just a witty or amusing statement. Paradoxes have serious implications in the world of

literature, because they make statements that often sum up the the main ideas of the work.

What is the purpose of using such a statement then, instead of just forthrightly stating the

work’s intent? One reason is that to do so would be boring. It is much more interesting for

a reader to carve out the meaning, than to have it fed to them on a silver platter. Further-

more, summing up the totality of the work in one statement is more memorable. “I must

be cruel to be kind” is a famous statement that has transcended history, whether or not

people know where the words originally came from.

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T h e C a v e

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I think one of the most odd things about learning is the moment where you know enough to real-

ize how much you don’t know. It’s scary as hell, because of how vulnerable it makes you feel. The

sensation of this virgin thought might only be on par to when you are a child and you realize you

only have a one and only life, or when you are a little older and realize that other people can hurt

you in a way that no one else can see, and you can do the same to them. Understanding these

things is a weight, and it makes you feel very tiny. So small, like that particle.

There is a reach to knowledge and skill. You know what you know, and through time and effort

and diligent focus, you’ve also come to realize a few of the things that you don’t know. You begin

to understand that those unknowns are within reach if you stretch a bit. That’s learning. And

then the thought occurs to you that puts the fear of God in your bones: there are things out of

your reach, (Important things! Crucial things!) that you will never know that you don’t know. It’s

a darkness too dark to pierce.

It feels a bit like walking through a cave with a really crummy torch. The torch gives enough light

to see a couple feet in front of you. We’re told that’s enough to get out, but I’m always left wishing

I could see a little further into the future, because I’ve got a pretty good hunch this cave is mas-

sive. If only we could make our torches burn a little brighter.

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“Art is not about the singular hand of the artist; it is the ideas behind the works that surpass each work itself.” -Weinberg, Adam D. “Backstage Stars.”

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It is rare when I don’t think about what it is that connects

us all, though much more apparent in my every day is what

doesn’t, or more appropriately, what is uniquely different

about each of us. In the most simplest of things we can find

ways to argue and clash, and these feelings are only intensi-

fied when paired with things of more personal importance.

It might be easiest then to describe the unifying factor in the

form of the question ‘why are we here?’ (and it’s related ideas

‘what is real?’, ‘what does it mean to exist?’, etc.) and how we

each come to terms with the impossibility of answering it. But

that is what we are all faced with, the cause and not the effect.

The effect, or rather, the answer to the question, can never be

the same for all of us. Our consciousness won’t allow it. Could

there be some sort of Absolute?* I think so, but it is absurd to

think that everyone will come to the same realization at once

about what it is, or even more laughable that it will reveal

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And that typically leads me to this conclusion: we are connected by our differences.

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In some almost incomprehensible way our consciousness is something utterly personal and

completely universal at the same time. Not in the sense that each of our mind’s are one in the

same – a shared consciousness – but rather that we are so impossibly different, and there are

infinite factors that will effect each of our thoughts uniquely, that we are unified in that.

I represent this graphically with the spiral, a never-ending cycle of both preserving and chang-

ing an idea or concept, and look to Hegel’s approach, referred to as the Hegelian method,

to help clarify it. *The Absolute is the concept of an unconditional reality which transcends

limited, conditional, everyday existence. it is often used as an alternate term for “god” or “the

divine”, especially, but by no means exclusively, by those who feel that the term “god” lends

itself too easily to anthropomorphic presumptions. the concept of the absolute may or may not

(depending on one’s specific doctrine) possess discrete will, intelligence, awareness or even a

personal nature. It is sometimes conceived of as the source through which all being emanates.

It contrasts with finite things, considered individually, and known collectively as the relative.

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T h e E n d