Heres something to think about?

Question

Thinkers and philosophers prepare to spend all night thinking about this statement:

I am a liar.

..If the person who said this was telling the truth, then he/she is not really a liar, which makes their statement a lie. Butvthen they mustve been telling the truth about being a liar so that means theyre not a liar, but then they were lying about being a liar so they really are a liar, so that means they were telling the truth, which means theyre a liar so they were a liar.

Happy Frustration

Answer 1

Anyone who says "Everything I say is a lie" is obviously lying about that one statement.  Because it's impossible for someone who only tells lies to make that statement.  

You also know by someone making that statement that they don't always tell the truth.  Once someone makes that statement, you automatically know that they tell the truth sometimes and tell lies at other times.

But what if that's the only statement they make in their whole life?  Or what if the statement is "The statement I am currently making is a lie", or "I am lying right now"?

Ah, now that's the "impossible" situation, if you're trying to categorize the statement as only one of the 2 possibilities- being true or being false.  In reality, the statement in that situation is in a third category- an illogical question.  It is neither true or false.

A logical statement cannot confirm or deny the truth of itself.  By so doing, it creates a recursive infinite loop of reference (I don't know if that's a real technical phrase, I just made it up), and therefore is not a logically determinable statement.  Meaning, the statement refers back to itself, which refers back to itself, again and again, for infinity, and can never be logically resolved.

Since the truth of the statement cannot be resolved, it's meaning cannot be determined.  It is not a logical statement.

Answer 2

I think you're lying.

Answer 3

You dont think much of philosophers and thinkers , do ya!!!!

How long it took you to come up with this "UNSOLVABLE PARADOX ". Half your life ?

Answer 4

I could take the time to figure it out. XD But... nah XD

Answer 5

...only you can answer that...i don't live in your mind...

Answer 6

Yes, only one lie to make u a liar; even there are 99.9% correct.

Answer 7

Because I am a liar, I am by nature a deceiver. If I can never tell the truth then I can never deceive anyone. So anyone who says they are a liar is neither a liar nor a truth teller, but merely playing with words.

I used to know a little boy who never told the truth, so you could always get the right story out of him just by asking him. Whatever he said was wrong, and as long as you asked questions with binary options you always got information. That isn't lying, it is mere stupidity.

Oh and your joke comes from an Old Star Trek Episode and it was corny as h**l in 1963.

Answer 8

"Everything I say is a lie".  This shows the limits of logic, doesn't it.  

If everything I say is a lie then for once I am telling the truth and not llying, therefore I have just lied, hence I am telling the truth.  

Hey Ho,

Maggie

Answer 9

he was a liar and already decided to tell the truth.

whatever.

Answer 10

Actually it makes a whole lot of sense, since everything this person says is a lie, then they lied in that very sentence since they told the truth. So they told the truth, BUT by saying that everything they said was a lie then by telling the truth they actually told a lie, so they prove themselves right only if you think about it for a while.

So, I think I'm pretty much "right" (I use the word right very flexibly after all how can anything be right), but it only took a little thought, just the right kind of thought.

If a truthful person said this, then would not have needed to say it at all, only a person who does lie would have said it, or at least someone who lies, perhaps not ALL the time but at the time of saying this sentence. :)

Answer 11

then it not your true nature.to be a liar

Answer 12

That's a paraphrases of the omnipotence paradox that has plenty of think work never getting into a conclusion. I'm not better than them, therefore I will not get into a conclusion either.

Answer 13

I think correct grammar and spelling is necessary for this question

What is there to think about anyway? Keep changing perspective and the "angle" of thinking, then basically he is a liar and a truth teller at the same time.

No thanks, im not going to spend all night thinking about this question. I dont think this is exactly a question that needs thinking.

Answer 14

If he is in fact, a liar, and says that he is a liar, he is just confirming the truth that he is a liar.

If he is not a liar and says that he is a liar, he is confirming the lie, that he is, in fact, a liar.

Conclusion:  By his own words... he is a liar.

Answer 15

It doesn't mean a liar always lies, so a liar can also speak the truth according to conditions, he is a liar who admits the truth for this time.

Answer 16

Nah, this didn't take all night. Your descriptions don't match up. You contradict yourself. You say a liar is someone who lies about everything in the beginning by stating that if he told one truth he wouldn't be a liar. But then you go on to say that if you're not a liar and tell one lie then you are a liar; by only telling ONE lie. It doesn't match up :) Clarify your 'liar'.