The Power of Paradox

Ever since I first started writing every day, one of my main goals has been to share wisdom I encounter—or observations I made—that might be able to help us think more clearly about the world.

Meanwhile, the world continues to move faster and faster, leaving less room for us to process what’s happening. Instead of thoughtful dialogue, we’re handed ultra-short video clips and memes that offer us conclusions.

One very useful tool for me has been learning to think about paradoxes. Our world is not binary, and in spite of how surface-level conversations might make us think so, there is a lot of nuance out there. Human beings have complicated ideas, and we’re all different from one another.

Paradoxes present a mental playground rife with contradictions. They offer us valuable frameworks for thinking critically and understanding the complexity of our rapidly changing world. Let me share some examples with you.

Hilbert's Paradox of the Grand Hotel

Imagine a hotel with an infinite number of ro…