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Daniel · 9 answers · 5y

What happens if pinocchio says "my nose will grow now"?

Depends on Pinocchio's beliefs.

If he believes that his nose will actually grow, it will not grow.
If he believes his nose will not grow, his nose will grow.

Many people thinks that it's a paradox, but it's not. Falsehood is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for lying. It depends on what you believe.

People discussing at length on what "will now", "nose" and "pinocchio" exactly mean in this context.

His nose will spontaneously combust, in line with the Paradox Clause as set down in the small print addendum on page 956 in the ‘Vitalisation For Beginners Handbook: Second Edition’ under the ‘Incongruities’ heading in chapter 13.

Ah see here's the thing - you can split hairs here and ask, is being wrong the same thing as lying? Lying connotes intent to deceive - knowingly saying something untrue...if Pinocchio doesn't know what's going to happen after saying that, one could argue it can't be a lie. I mean if he said the Maple Leafs are winning the Stanley Cup and they don't, is that a lie? ANSWER THAT, BLUE FAIRY

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