Pa r a d ox : A V i s u a l E s s ay
Jordan Hil l
Good jokes. Good concepts. Good design. I think all three share a firm foot in the realm of paradox.
“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
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.
The world, and how we view it, is malleable.
The world, and how we view it, is malleable.
Thingsaren’t
black&white. They are gray.
We’re gray.
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.
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
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.
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.
Paradox can prove to be very revealing about human nature and the way that we speak.
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.
Paradox Concept: Starts with Shrimp
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.
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.
Here are some more examples of paradox in simple forms in order to further define the term “paradox”
“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
Paradox in Literature: Animal Farm
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.
Paradox in Literature: Hamlet
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.
P u r p o s e o f P a r a d o x
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.
T h e C a v e
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.
“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.”
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
And that typically leads me to this conclusion: we are connected by our differences.
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.
T h e E n d