Why Paradox Playground?

For years I have been delighted with paradoxes--moreso the visual paradoxes of M.C. Escher and Rene Magritte than the verbal paradoxes, such as the liar's paradox. I take the Moebius strip and the Klein bottle as representative of the type of both/and-ness that I see in the world. Whereas most of science and philosophy seek to eliminate paradox or fix it so that what seems like a paradox can be shown to really be consistent, I seek to embrace it. Indeed, that is how we can get to wholeness, because the whole does include all the pieces, even if they be seemingly contradictory.

By cultivating a mindset that embraces paradox, I think we humans will be better able to cope with our modern "problems." We won't be tempted to see the world in terms of black and white, good guys and bad guys, left and right, Us and Them. By embracing paradox we will see the connectedness inherent in those types of oppositions.

So, in the coming weeks, I will use this space to ponder some interesting ideas I have come across recently. In the mean time, look for the irony in your life.