Some fool asked this previously and everyone answered that it is a paradox. That is not the case with how the question is stated. No where in the question is it stated that the villagers can't shave the barber. Hence, anyone in the village can shave the barber. More information is required in the question in order to have an exact answer for this question (it might have been a parodox if it was stated that only the barber can do the shaving in the village, but it wasn't).
Do you agree?Paradox Question: Barber and Village?
Mathematically, it is actually called Russell's paradox. It comes from axiomatic set theory. The paradox arises because the statement is self-referential. In math terms, ';Does the set of all sets that are not members of themselves contain itself?';
It is closely related to Curt Godel's famous incompleteness theorem. Godel proved [by relying on Cantor's diagonal argument] that there are ';truths about a system that can't be determined by the logic internal to the system.'; Said another way, ';No system can be fully defined by a series of statements or rules and be both complete and without contradiction at the same time.'; It's the reason that biological systems tend toward fractal organization . [Search for the term Mandelbrot set.]
More recently, Godel's incompleteness Theorem has been used to prove that the the curricula of the medical schools at Stanford, Duke, Harvard, Yale, the University of VA, and most others aren't based on science. Currently, students are taught ';reductionism'; i.e. that living systems are fully explained by chemistry. Medical understanding of systems stop at Newton. It's a large part of the reason that 1.5 Million Americans in the last decade alone have been killed by their doctor's error.
Most people will tell you that DNA stores information. Information systems are not governed by chemistry, they're governed by computer science [Shannon entropy.] Biological systems are merely implemented in chemistry. Molecular biology can not possibly describe the macroscopic state of the system.
Indeed, the coming nanotech boom will arise as CS people continue to go into medical research. They will re-import carbon-based computing into semiconductors and materials. Most doctors will be out of a job. For an overview of the science, go to www.systemsbiology.org
If you're interested in saving lives and American democracy, ask your congressman why the AMA and pharmaceutical industry are concealing these above facts.
Edit: BTW, the above answers inject information from the observer, who is external to the original statement. That is because the statement can't be answered by the given facts. The lesson is that there are questions that you can never answer. It's ultimately the mathematical reason that we need faith.Paradox Question: Barber and Village?
Here's the math:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell%27s_paradox
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del%27s_incompleteness_theorems
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantor%27s_diagonal_argument
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Finally, there's a section on system's biology in here too that references Godel. Prepare to be shocked.
http://www.amazon.com/End-Medicine-Silicon-Valley-Reboot/dp/006113029X
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Asteroids are SO OVER! What we need is a super-strong cable made of self-assembling carbon nano-tubes. I know a guy that is working on the elevator for NASA.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_elevator
Check this out too. It's coming.
http://www.foresight.org/
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I do agree and here's why others are confused...
There are two ways to look at this problem, one of which makes it a paradox:
1) ';Shave themselves'; could mean people who shave their own beards
or
2)';Shave themselves'; could mean people who themselves shave beard, no matter who's beard it is.
The first version is the one that you and me both thought, which is perfectly acceptable for the villagers to shave the barber.
The second version is the one that others think about, where if the people shave the barber then they themselves are shavers. This makes this question a matter of perspective. Does that relieve you of your frustration?:)
No where does it say that one of the villagers can't shave the barber.
The barber shaves those who do not shave themselves, so he can't shave himself, or he'd be one of those who does shave themselves, and he doesn't shave those people.
But it doesn't say that ONLY the barber can shave those who don't shave themselves, just that this particular barber only shaves those who don't shave THEMSELVES.
However, the people who don't shave themselves could still shave someone else, including the barber.
So one of those who don't shave themselves, or even someone in the village who shaves themselves every day, could shave the barber.
He just can't shave himself is all.
p.s. the barber being a woman who doesn't ever need to shave only works if your thinking of facial hair, but the paradox doesn't say ';only those who don't shave their facial hair';. Women shave too, just different areas such as legs %26amp; underarms.
Yes. That was exactly what I was going to state. The question only implies that the barber is the only one shaving people. In fact the only thing the question does is tell you that the barber only shaves people that do not shave themselves. Which tells us that the barber does not shave himself. It is not a paradox. In order to make it a trick question it would have to be rewritten like this:
';There is a village where only one person, the barber, shaves all those and only those who do not shave themselves. No one else in the village shaves anyone else. Who shaves the barber?';
Then the answer to that is easy. The barber does not shave. He has a beard!
The fact that no one else can shave the barber is stated in the paradox. Look at it this way: If someone else shaves the barber then the barber is a person who does not shave themselves. And the paradox says barber shaves everyone who does not shave themself. So,the barber can't shave everyone who doesn't shave themself and be someone who doesn't shave themself at the same time....
But, I don't see why this is a paradox...hasn't anyone ever heard of a female barber??
Of course it's not a paradox. Rather, it's a definite question. The answer is everybody. Everybody can learn how to shave and nowadays there are safety shaver made by Gillete and other brands. Exemptions maybe a child and an abnormal person. The statement doesn't say the barber can only be shaved by a barber. I don't think it's logic.
No: the barber only shaves those who don't shave themselves, but he shaves all of them. Therefore, the barber cannot shave himself, because he can only shave people who don't shave themselves. Also, the barber cannot be shaved by someone else, because he shaves all of the people who are shaved by someone other than themselves. Either the barber is a woman, or the barber has a beard.
Why would you assume that the barber was a male?
Your assumption would create a paradox otherwise there is no problem here.
There are only two classes of men for this Venn diagram and this barber is not a member of either class. An assumption of a third class
or and intersecting class is your real problem.
The way I see it:
1: The barber could possibly be a female or
2: The paradox states that the barber shave all THOSE and only THOSE who do not shave THEMSELVES. If that is the case then it is possible for him to shave HIMSELF.
Silly, silly, silly, there is no paradox ! Nowhere in the question is the barber stated as being a ';Man';. No one shaves the barber because the barber is a ';Woman';
This is a lateral thinking question and everyone assumes that the barber is a man. The barber is a WOMAN and therefore has nothing to shave. Done
The barber does not have hair therefore he does not require shaving. THe barber is weird if he/she shaves all those who don't shave themselves including people who do not require shaving like infants and people with no hair.
the answer is a paradox, not the question
the man in the mirror shaves the barber. he doesn't shave himself but he does.
Yes, it's easy. Anyone else can shave the barber, making one big assumption. The barber may just be a woman, who needs no shaving.
This is very simple. No where in the question does it state that everyone shaves, therefore the barber simply doesn't shave.
I think the barber's barber shaves the barber.
Nooooo you people are wrong.....the barber just goes to another village and finds somebody to shave him.
I believe the barber goes to the next village.
yes, i agree witthe poeple who got it before me!!,
no one, the barber is a female!!
The barber is female and does not need to be shaved.
The barber doesn't live in the village.
No one shaves the barber...He only trims his face hairs
someone outside the village shaves him
The barber is bald
no one the barber is female!
I disagree.
The first statement allows the reader to reach the following logical deduction: that there is a certain percentage of people in the village that DO shave themselves. These people don't need to see the barber to get shaved.
Although one might think that any one of the people in the village that DO shave themselves can just go and shave the barber, but the RULE in the statement DOES NOT ALLOW THEM TO DO SO.
Read again carefully: the barber shaves ALL THOSE AND ONLY THOSE who do not shave themselves. This means that the remaining percentage of people in the village that DO NOT shave themselves can ONLY BE SHAVED BY THE BARBER, and NO ONE ELSE.
Although there may be people that DO in fact shave themselves, this does not give them authority to shave the barber.
Thus the paradox lies in the fact that the BARBER was put into the category with those who DO NOT shave themselves (since he's busy shaving everyone else--he too became someone that does not shave himself). Which led to the ultimate question: If the barber became among those who do not shave themselves, and ONLY HE is authorized to shave the people in that category--yet he would be taken OUT of that category if he WERE to shave himself, how can he get a shave and not break the rule in the question?
The ultimate answer? SEND FOR THE BARBER IN A NEIGHBORING VILLAGE TO COME AND SHAVE HIM. lol
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