Paradox Redux

1/19/2017

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

What time period in human history do you think was so paradoxical?

19 Comments

Andrea Gaytan

1/19/2017 23:24:24

A paradoxical time is a time that pretty much contradicted itself. To me a paradoxical time we have had would be when society spends more than what they have. For example, deficit spending is when people spend more money than what they earn. This is contradicting the fact that you should not be spending more money than what you have accumulated or earned. Many events have occurred within our time where society has showed a contradiction between their actions, but that's just how life goes.

Kay

1/20/2017 08:24:15

Your comment makes me think of the so-called "Roaring Twenties"--the time that gave birth to Jay Gatsby. Everything including dreams was gilded, glitzy, and glamorous. But nobody foresaw that the Great Depression was brewing on the horizon.

Karla Olivares

1/21/2017 13:48:24

As I read the definition of paradoxical which leads to self-contradictory of basically two statements that are beyond "true" but usually are not simply real because they can't combine. Last class Mrs. Kay you said examples of paradoxical which I extremely agree with you for example, "I'm nobody","If you didn't get this message, call me" and many more. My favorite one... "You shouldn't go in the water until you know how to swim." How is he going to learn? it makes totally sense.

Kay

1/25/2017 08:18:12

I am so glad that you find the statement "I am nobody" paradoxical. A person who can voice his or her feeling of powerlessness and insignificance is already "somebody."

Andrea Gaytan

1/30/2017 15:07:56

Karla that is also one of my favorite ones, because it makes no sense. How is he going to learn how to swim if he doesn't try it out right? I think that's what makes a paradox so much fun, because it is a statement that contradicts itself and you end up thinking like "what in the world?"

Jackeline A Martinez

1/22/2017 15:41:32

Now days we are passing in Paradoxical times because It was the best of times (when all contries can get together for new technology like airplanes or ships), it was the worst of times(divided for war or political differences), it was the age of wisdom(each one of us have the capacity to have something good that help the humanity), it was the age of foolishness(but there is more people who want to see pain that happiness) , it was the epoch of belief(everything can be true like go to the moon...), it was the epoch of incredulity(but most person prefer be comfortable and do nothing), it was the season of Light(we are in the age of "liberty",) , it was the season of Darkness(,but only for our convenience) it was the spring of hope(civil rights) , it was the winter of despair( wars...) , we had everything before us,(opportunities) we had nothing before us (empty) , we were all going direct to Heaven,(we have the opportunity to make big things) we were all going direct the other way(but nobody realize it) it's time to do something!

Sergio Avendano

1/29/2017 22:18:11

It would be extremely hard to pinpoint an exact time where everything is Paradoxical because honestly everything in Human history is Paradoxical.Since the beginning of man we've been working towards a better tomorrow but at what cost? We've killed an absurd amount of people to continue towards the good. We had many holy wars to fight others that had different beliefs with extreme casualties to both sides, when the bible says not to Kill of judge others. We say we have to protect the earth, but we keep on devastating. We say we have to protect and help others when we can bearly help ourselves.We get pushed into college to expand our knowledge but we leave with 100,000 dollars in debt. Truly you expecting us to just pick one timeline is paradoxical.

Andrea Gaytan

1/30/2017 15:06:10

I strongly agree with you on this one Sergio. It is very difficult to pinpoint a specific time where we have been paradoxical when in reality everyday is a paradox.

Luis Villanueva 1-2A

2/8/2017 23:05:43

A paradox happens all the time because we learn so much from history but everyone seems to ignore it and then we end up in the same problems. We know whats right and wrong because history teaches us a lesson and repeats but no one seems to see it that way. Something can be peaceful at one point in time but the other moment it can be chaotic. Sergio makes a very good point and it shows a lot in the world today because we try so hard to make the world better when we should be making ourselves better before we can help others. Most people have motives but before the world can be better we must put that aside but sadly people fail to see that.

Melissa Menchaca 1/2A

2/16/2017 22:03:03

I agree that a paradox happens throughout history but many do ignore because people are mainly ignorant in understanding that history repeats itself. Though, we must all fail before realizing the mistakes we have made already.

Raquel B.

2/17/2017 20:38:31

Luis, I also think that paradox has been around through history and even now people continue to be the most paradoxical beings.

Jorge Gonzalez

2/11/2017 18:50:22

hmmm... So how about instead of picking an specific time in history, I pick actual moving time? The present is such a paradoxical time wouldn't you say? I mean, the more the present time passes, the more we live, the closer we are to dying, don't you think so? and there's many other things that could be paradoxical during the present. We could say that the human race works so that they don't have to work anymore, or us students go to school just so that we can get out of school ASAP (not saying that everyone is like this), so truly, present time is the most paradoxical time.

PS. technically the present would never end, thus it has an infinite number of paradoxes in its way :p you can't fight against that can you miss <(>0<)/

Jorge Gonzalez

2/11/2017 18:52:19

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

shrug..... cx

Adaylin Alvarez

2/13/2017 03:43:34

Everyday is a paradox, I'm pretty sure everyone has heard of the saying, "the best things in life are free." In this world, nothing is free. We pay for most of the things we use daily. Another saying would be, "stop looking for happiness if you want to find it." If i want to find something I go looking for i, right? Everyday is a paradox, we unconsciously say things that contradict our life and its happiness.

Luis Villanueva 1-2A

2/16/2017 18:07:47

I agree with you a paradox is something that is used everyday. Another example is when we go to lunch we say we are so hungry, but we don't want to eat the lunch. If we are really hungry then we will eat whatever is given to us making it a paradox. Also a paradox when you go to the store and say I want to buy that new phone that just came out, but I don't want to spend my money. If you really wanted the phone you'd buy it

Samantha Garza

2/16/2017 19:07:19

Yes! Luis that is true. The first example you gave is one that I do a lot. I tend to say I am hungry, but when I go to lunch I don't eat what is given. That just shows that what Adaylin said is true as well, everyday is a paradox.

Valeria Salinas

2/17/2017 01:06:43

Another paradox used daily in life is "The more you fail, the more likely you are to succeed.For example, when Michael Jordan got cut from his high school team, he still ended up becoming one of the most successful professional basketball players because success comes from improvement and improvement comes from the failure.

Pedro Polanco

2/22/2017 00:27:25

The most paradoxical time period in human history has to be the rise of slavery. People owning people, buying them every day as if they were groceries at a supermarket. To have some other person at your mercy shouldn't have ever happened in history but it did. In reality the paradox is that we are creating hatred by our own hand.

Aaron Garcilazo

2/25/2017 22:21:52

At first I didn’t know the meaning of a paradox until we began using plenty of times in class. A paradox for me is basically a statement that contradicts itself. I think a time period that was paradoxical was when the Great Depression happened. And the only way it ended was when we went into World War ll.

Paradox Redux

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