N
neurosis
Solstice
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2025
- Posts
- 2,395
- Reputation
- 3,454
'This statement is false' - Is this statement true or is it false?
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: this_feature_currently_requires_accessing_site_using_safari
ChatGPT knows whats upThe statement "This statement is false" is a classic example of a paradox, specifically the liar paradox.
Let’s analyze it:
---
The statement:
> "This statement is false."
Let’s call this statement S.
---
Possibility 1: S is true
If S is true, then what it says must hold — that is, it must be false.
So if it's true, then it's false. Contradiction.
---
Possibility 2: S is false
If S is false, then what it says — that it is false — is not true, which means it must be true.
So if it's false, then it's true. Again, contradiction.
---
Conclusion:
The statement creates a self-referential loop that cannot consistently be assigned a truth value — it cannot be true or false without contradiction.
Therefore, it is neither true nor false in classical logic — it's a paradox.
This challenges our usual binary understanding of truth and is important in fields like logic, philosophy, and computer science (e.g., Gödel's incompleteness theorems).
i wrote thatChatGPT knows whats up