Shannon's most radical insight was that meaning was irrelevant.

The best paradoxes raise questions about what kinds of contradictions can occur-what species of impossibilities are possible.

Paradox is thus a much deeper and universal concept than the ancients would have dreamed. Rather than an oddity, it is a mainstay of the philosophy of science.

The engine driving the Kelly system is the "law of large numbers." In a 1713 treatise on probability, Swiss mathematician Jakob Bernoulli propounded a law that has been misunderstood by gamblers (and investors) ever since.

Expectation is a statistical fiction, like having 2.5 children.

The assumption that anything true is knowable is the grandfather of paradoxes.

Are there any mythical beasts which aren't simple pastiches of nature? Centaurs, minotaurs, unicorns, griffons, chimeras, sphinxes, manticores, and the like don't speak well for the human imagination. None is as novel as a kangaroo or starfish.