“Zeno walks into a bar…” (bar joke)
“A guy walks into a bar…” is a typical form of what has been called the “bar joke.” A version based on a paradox by the Greek philosopher Zeno of Elea (ca. 490–430 BC) is:
“Zeno walks into a bar. Keeps walking. And walking.”
“So, Zeno walks halfway into a bar…” was posted on the newsgroup alt.fan.cecil-adams on November 20, 2008. “Zeno walks halfway into a bar, then 1/4th, then 1/8th, then 1/16th, and eventually gives up and just buys himself a 40 at a bodega” was posted on Twitter on September 2, 2009. “Zeno walks halfway into a bar. Then Zeno walks halfway into a bar. Then Zeno walks halfway into a bar. Then Zeno walks halfway into a bar…” was posted on Twitter on January 19, 2012.
“Zeno walks into a bar. Keeps walking. And walking” was posted on Twitter by Nein Quarterly on December 10, 2013.
Wikipedia: Zeno paradoxes
Zeno’s paradoxes are a set of philosophical problems generally thought to have been devised by Greek philosopher Zeno of Elea (ca. 490–430 BC) to support Parmenides’ doctrine that contrary to the evidence of one’s senses, the belief in plurality and change is mistaken, and in particular that motion is nothing but an illusion. It is usually assumed, based on Plato’s Parmenides (128a–d), that Zeno took on the project of creating these paradoxes because other philosophers had created paradoxes against Parmenides’ view. Thus Plato has Zeno say the purpose of the paradoxes “is to show that their hypothesis that existences are many, if properly followed up, leads to still more absurd results than the hypothesis that they are one.” (Parmenides 128d). Plato has Socrates claim that Zeno and Parmenides were essentially arguing exactly the same point (Parmenides 128a–b).
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Dichotomy paradox
That which is in locomotion must arrive at the half-way stage before it arrives at the goal.– as recounted by Aristotle, Physics VI:9, 239b10
Suppose Homer wishes to walk to the end of a path. Before he can get there, he must get halfway there. Before he can get halfway there, he must get a quarter of the way there. Before traveling a quarter, he must travel one-eighth; before an eighth, one-sixteenth; and so on.
Google Groups: alt.fan.cecil-adams
An infinite number of mathematicians
Jerry Bauer
11/20/08
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So, Zeno walks halfway into a bar…
Twitter
Steve Ramos
@massivepants
Zeno walks halfway into a bar, then 1/4th, then 1/8th, then 1/16th, and eventually gives up and just buys himself a 40 at a bodega.
11:11 PM - 2 Sep 2009
Twitter
Theoderic Beresford
@count_01
Zeno walks halfway into a bar. Then Zeno walks halfway into a bar. Then Zeno walks halfway into a bar. Then Zeno walks halfway into a bar…
9:13 AM - 19 Jan 2012
Twitter
J. Robert Heller
@Aether_works
Zeno walks into a bar, but only ever gets halfway there.
1:01 AM - 12 Jan 2013
Twitter
The Philostitute
@philostitute
Replying to @jamesgrime
@jamesgrime Zeno walks towards a bar.
10:06 AM - 11 Apr 2013
Twitter
Ian Mackay Bell
@IanBell1916
The old ones are the best: ‘So Zeno walks halfway into a bar…’
2:17 AM - 22 Nov 2013
Twitter
work in progress
@FebWin
Zeno of Elea walks very close to a bar.
8:27 PM - 29 Nov 2013
Twitter
Nein.
@NeinQuarterly
Zeno walks into a bar. Keeps walking. And walking.
2:14 PM - 10 Dec 2013
Facebook
Australasian Association of Philosophy
January 16, 2014 ·
“Zeno walks halfway into a bar…”
Odyssey
Philosophy Jokes You Kant Stop Laughing At
So Socrates walks into a bar…
Kennedy Womack
Dec 28, 2015
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7. Zeno Enjoys A Nice Cold Beer And A Paradox
Zeno walks halfway into a bar
Reddit—Jokes
Zeno walks towards a bar.
submitted October 25, 2017 by crasswriter
He never makes it.