Paradox⟳

The map

Every line is a connection someone argued for and wrote down. Distance from the centre is time — ancient ideas near the middle, modern ones at the edge — and each spoke is a field. The interesting part is how often a line crosses from one spoke to another.

102 entries · 268 connections · 13 fields

A map of 102 paradoxes joined by 268 connections, arranged by field and century. The same information is listed below. Achilles and the Tortoise — Philosophy, 5 connectionsAmara's Law — Economics, 3 connectionsAnchoring Effect — Psychology, 4 connectionsArrow's Impossibility Theorem — Economics, 7 connectionsBaader-Meinhof Phenomenon — Psychology, 3 connectionsBenford's Law — Mathematics, 5 connectionsBerkson's Paradox — Statistics, 5 connectionsBerry's Paradox — Logic, 6 connectionsBertrand's Box Paradox — Probability, 5 connectionsBraess's Paradox — Economics, 7 connectionsBrandolini's Law — Philosophy, 4 connectionsBrooks's Law — Computer Science, 3 connectionsBuridan's Ass — Philosophy, 3 connectionsBystander Effect — Psychology, 4 connectionsCantor's Diagonal Argument — Mathematics, 13 connectionsChesterton's Fence — Philosophy, 3 connectionsCobra Effect — Economics, 4 connectionsConway's Law — Computer Science, 1 connectionsCunningham's Law — Psychology, 3 connectionsDunbar's Number — Psychology, 3 connectionsDunning-Kruger Effect — Psychology, 8 connectionsFlynn Effect — Psychology, 2 connectionsGabriel's Horn — Mathematics, 4 connectionsGalileo's Paradox — Mathematics, 8 connectionsGödel's Incompleteness Theorems — Logic, 11 connectionsGoodhart's Law — Economics, 23 connectionsHalo Effect — Psychology, 4 connectionsHanlon's Razor — Philosophy, 1 connectionsHawthorne Effect — Psychology, 2 connectionsHilbert's Grand Hotel — Mathematics, 9 connectionsHofstadter's Law — Psychology, 2 connectionsLevinthal's Paradox — Biology, 4 connectionsMatthew Effect — Society, 7 connectionsMaxwell's Demon — Physics, 4 connectionsMeno's Paradox — Philosophy, 2 connectionsMetcalfe's Law — Computer Science, 3 connectionsMoore's Law — Computer Science, 4 connectionsMoravec's Paradox — AI, 4 connectionsMurphy's Law — Psychology, 2 connectionsNewcomb's Problem — Philosophy, 2 connectionsOccam's Razor — Philosophy, 2 connectionsOlbers' Paradox — Astronomy, 5 connectionsPareto Principle — Economics, 3 connectionsParkinson's Law — Psychology, 4 connectionsPeto's Paradox — Biology, 4 connectionsPlacebo Effect — Psychology, 2 connectionsPygmalion Effect — Psychology, 3 connectionsRingelmann Effect — Psychology, 4 connectionsRussell's Paradox — Logic, 10 connectionsSchrödinger's Cat — Physics, 7 connectionsSemmelweis Reflex — Psychology, 3 connectionsSimpson's Paradox — Statistics, 11 connectionsStreisand Effect — Psychology, 4 connectionsSunk Cost Fallacy — Psychology, 3 connectionsThe Abilene Paradox — Psychology, 5 connectionsThe Allais Paradox — Economics, 8 connectionsThe Banach–Tarski Paradox — Mathematics, 5 connectionsThe Barber Paradox — Logic, 6 connectionsThe Birthday Problem — Probability, 6 connectionsThe Black Hole Information Paradox — Physics, 5 connectionsThe Boy or Girl Paradox — Probability, 6 connectionsThe Butterfly Effect — Physics, 1 connectionsThe Byzantine Generals Problem — Computer Science, 5 connectionsThe C-value Paradox — Biology, 3 connectionsThe CAP Theorem — Computer Science, 5 connectionsThe Coastline Paradox — Mathematics, 2 connectionsThe Condorcet Paradox — Society, 4 connectionsThe Easterlin Paradox — Economics, 5 connectionsThe Ellsberg Paradox — Economics, 2 connectionsThe EPR Paradox — Physics, 6 connectionsThe Fermi Paradox — Astronomy, 4 connectionsThe FLP Impossibility Result — Computer Science, 6 connectionsThe Friendship Paradox — Mathematics, 6 connectionsThe Giffen Paradox — Economics, 2 connectionsThe Grandfather Paradox — Physics, 8 connectionsThe Grelling-Nelson Paradox — Logic, 3 connectionsThe Halting Problem — Computer Science, 9 connectionsThe Jevons Paradox — Economics, 5 connectionsThe Ladder Paradox — Physics, 3 connectionsThe Liar Paradox — Logic, 15 connectionsThe Monty Hall Problem — Probability, 9 connectionsThe Mpemba Effect — Physics, 1 connectionsThe Paradox of Choice — Psychology, 6 connectionsThe Paradox of the Court — Philosophy, 5 connectionsThe Paradox of Thrift — Economics, 3 connectionsThe Paradox of Tolerance — Philosophy, 5 connectionsThe Peter Principle — Psychology, 2 connectionsThe Prisoner's Dilemma — Economics, 14 connectionsThe Productivity Paradox — Economics, 4 connectionsThe Ross-Littlewood Paradox — Mathematics, 3 connectionsThe Ship of Theseus — Philosophy, 6 connectionsThe Sleeping Beauty Problem — Philosophy, 8 connectionsThe Sorites Paradox — Philosophy, 6 connectionsThe St. Petersburg Paradox — Economics, 6 connectionsThe Tragedy of the Commons — Economics, 11 connectionsThe Tristram Shandy Paradox — Mathematics, 3 connectionsThe Twin Paradox — Physics, 6 connectionsThe Two Envelopes Problem — Probability, 6 connectionsThe Two Generals' Problem — Computer Science, 7 connectionsThe Unexpected Hanging Paradox — Philosophy, 7 connectionsZeno's Dichotomy Paradox — Philosophy, 10 connectionsZipf's Law — Mathematics, 5 connections
Hover a dot for its name; click to open it. Colour is the field. Dot size is how many connections an entry has.

The busiest crossroads

Entries that connect to the most others — good places to enter the map.

  1. Goodhart's Law23 connections
  2. The Liar Paradox15 connections
  3. The Prisoner's Dilemma14 connections
  4. Cantor's Diagonal Argument13 connections
  5. Gödel's Incompleteness Theorems11 connections
  6. Simpson's Paradox11 connections
  7. The Tragedy of the Commons11 connections
  8. Russell's Paradox10 connections
  9. Zeno's Dichotomy Paradox10 connections
  10. Hilbert's Grand Hotel9 connections
  11. The Halting Problem9 connections
  12. The Monty Hall Problem9 connections