Paradoxes — when two mutually exclusive things can be true at the same time — can be interesting logical experiments in a philosophy class or a late-night dorm room BS session, but they occasionally appear in reality.
One famous example is the paradox of Schrödinger’s Cat, which is used as an allegory for the concept of superposition in quantum physics. The thought experiment revolves around the idea of a cat sealed in a box with a poison that will kill it at some indeterminate time unknown to the observer. Until the observer chooses to open the box, the status of the cat is up in the air. It is equally possible that the cat is alive or dead; in fact, if the box remains unopened, the cat can be considered simultaneously both alive and dead. In quantum mechanics, this explains the idea that, unobserved, a quantum system exists in all possible states at the same time, with the actual state of the system only confirmed by observation.
But paradoxes aren’t always this esoteric and obtuse. Sometimes they even fit neatly into the political arguments of the day. That has certainly been the case when it comes to the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Leftist pro-Palestinian activists and pundits have created their very own version of Schrödinger’s thought experiment, centered around pre-war Gaza. In the minds of leftists, the Gaza of Oct. 6, 2023, was occupying its very own quantum superposition — at once both sublime utopia and horrific dystopia. Depending on the
