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The Berry Paradox
a number too hard to describe?
Consider 'the least integer not nameable in fewer than nineteen syllables'. Some whole numbers need long descriptions, so there must be a smallest number that cannot be named in fewer than 19 syllables. But the phrase in quotes names that very number, and it has only 18 syllables. Bertrand Russell published this in 1908, crediting the librarian G. G. Berry.
Source: A classic puzzle, retold by INFINITE SUM and fact-checked against our curated notes
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