2008.03.01
Paradox of the Moment
In Zeno's dichotomy paradox, you run toward a wall. As you run, you halve the distance to the wall, then halve it again, and so on. But if you continue to subdivide space forever, how can you ever actually reach the wall? (The answer is that you can't: Once you're within a few nanometers, atomic repulsion forces become too strong for you to get any closer.)I never thought about how modern science and atomic theory has such a good answer for Zeno! The article is also worthwhile for its final bit, a speculation about what life would really be like if electricity HAD become "too cheap to meter" as predicted by Atomic Energy Commission chief Lewis Strauss