Berry Paradox

The Berry paradox is a self-referential paradox arising from the expression "the smallest possible integer not definable by a given number of words". Bertrand Russell, the first to discuss the paradox in print, attributed it to G. G. Berry (1867–1928), a junior librarian at Oxford's Bodleian library, who had suggested the more limited paradox arising from the expression "the first undefinable ordinal".

Read more about Berry Paradox:  The Paradox, Resolution, Formal Analogues, Relationship With Kolmogorov Complexity

Famous quotes containing the words berry and/or paradox:

    Being a parent is a form of leadership. . . . Parents make a mistake, along with leaders of organizations, when they are unwilling to recognize the power inherent in the positions they occupy and when they are unwilling to use this power. . . . I do not mean a figure who is irrational, autocratic, or sadistic. I mean leaders who have the strength of character to stand up for what they believe.
    —Abraham Zaleznik. In Support of Families, ed. Michael W. Yogman and T. Berry Brazelton, ch. 8 (1986)

    To make advice agreeable, try paradox or rhyme.
    Mason Cooley (b. 1927)