The Barber Paradox and English Tenses
Here is the famous barber paradox.
Paradox. The barber shaves all those and only those who don’t shave themselves. Does the barber shave himself?
If he shaves himself, then he doesn’t shave himself. If he doesn’t shave himself, then he shaves himself.
English is not my primary language, and I am fascinated by the variety of verb tenses in English as compared to the Russian language. For example, Russian has one present tense while English has four. I wonder what would happen if we use the other present tenses in this paradox.
Present continuous. The barber shaves all those and only those who aren’t shaving themselves. Does the barber shave himself?
Does this mean that the barber starts shaving himself and then has to stop, and a moment later he has to start again?
Present perfect. The barber shaves all those and only those who haven’t shaved themselves. Does the barber shave himself?
Does this mean that the barber shaves himself every other day?
Present perfect continuous. The barber shaves all those and only those who haven’t been shaving themselves. Does the barber shave himself?
Does this mean the barber shaves himself once in his lifetime and then never again?
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