#315 What's a Paradox?
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Do you like paradoxes? Today I will talk about the paradox of the magic bill, which has gone viral on social media. Welcome to Speak English Now podcast with your host Georgiana, the podcast that will help you to speak English fluently with no grammar and no textbooks.

Hi, I'm Georgiana. Thanks for joining me for a new Speak English Now podcast episode. If you want to help, please share the podcast on social media. That would mean a lot. Thanks. Before we start, visit my website, speakenglishpodcast.com, and subscribe to my mini-course. It's completely free. Okay, let's start.

A paradox is a fact, expression, or story that seems contrary to logic. I invite you to listen to this paradox and then assume the solution. Pay attention. A tourist arrives at a hotel. He is very picky about the rooms, so he asks the receptionist if he can see them first.

The receptionist agrees, but asks the tourist to leave $100 at the front desk. The tourist leaves a $100 bill and goes upstairs to look at the vacant rooms to see if he likes any of them.

The hotel manager then takes this bill and goes to the butcher shop to pay a 100 debt to the butcher. The butcher goes to the bakery to pay the 100 debt he owes the baker and does so with the same $100 bill.

The baker, in turn, takes the bill and pays his debt to his doctor with the same bill. Finally, the doctor returns to the hotel and pays a $100 debt he owes to the hotel manager. At that point, the tourist returns and tells the desk clerk that he does not want to stay at the hotel.

He takes his $100 bill and leaves. The apparent paradox is that before the tourist arrived, the manager, the butcher, the baker, and the doctor no longer owe anything. No one owes anything to anyone. No one has worked or produced anything. And no one has lost a single dollar.

I think that the key to understanding this supposed paradox is that each of the characters owed $100, but they were also owed $100. That is, everyone at some point would have to pay $100, but also, at some point, had to receive $100.

In reality, the bill has not affected anyone's economy. What has happened is that each person's debt has been cancelled. Now I think I need an aspirin. What do you think? Can you explain this story in your language? Or could you explain this paradox directly in English?

I know it's even more difficult, but there's nothing impossible. Now let's continue with a mini story. I'm gonna tell you a story, but with questions. I use this technique in my premium courses. It's very effective. I say a phrase with information. Next, I ask some questions. After each question, there is a pause.

It's your turn to answer. After each pause, I give a correct answer. That's how I build a story. And if you want the complete programs with hours of audio, designed to develop your fluency, visit my website, speakenglishpodcast.com slash courses. There are several levels. Okay, let's start.

The tourist leaves a $100 bill at the front desk and goes to the second floor to examine the rooms. Does the tourist leave a bill or a coin? A bill. The tourist leaves a bill at the front desk. Where does he leave it? At the front desk. He leaves it at the front desk.

Does he go up or down to the second floor? He goes up to the second floor from the front desk to examine the rooms. Why does he go upstairs? To examine the rooms. In the first room, the tourist sees through the window how the manager hands his $100 bill to a butcher.

In which room does he see something through the window? In the first room. In the first room, the tourist sees something. He sees how the manager hands his bill to the butcher. Does the tourist see how the manager hands over $500 to a butcher?

No, no, not $500. It was $100. Who does the manager hand the money to? To the butcher. The manager hands the money to a butcher. In the second room, the tourist watches the butcher hand his bill to the baker.

Does the tourist observe how the butcher hands money to a baker? Yes, he watches the butcher hand his bill to a baker. Whose bill? The tourist's bill. It is the same bill that the tourist left at the front desk. In the third room, the tourist, completely astonished,

sees his bill pass from the baker's hands to a doctor. Is the tourist astonished? Yes, the tourist is astonished. Does the bill pass from one hand to another? Yes, the bill passes from one hand to another. Does it pass from the doctor's hands to the baker's hands?

No, no. The bill passes from the baker's hands to the doctor's hands. In other words, the baker gives the bill to the doctor. The tourist returns to the hotel front desk and sees the doctor walking out the door. Does the tourist go down or up? He goes down.

He returns to the front desk. Does the tourist see someone? Yes, he sees the doctor. Does the tourist see the doctor walking through the door? No, no, he sees him walking out the door. The tourist leaves the hotel with his bill and assumes that everyone is insane.

Does the tourist leave the bill at the hotel? No, no. The tourist leaves the hotel with his bill. Does the tourist assume that everyone is sane? No, the tourist doesn't assume that. He leaves the hotel assuming everyone is insane. Being sane

is the opposite of insane. Okay, that's the end of this short exercise. If you find it difficult, that's normal. I recommend you repeat it several times. And if you want, on several different days.

As you can see, through questions and answers, you can practice and improve your speech, just like in a real conversation. It is one of the techniques that I use in my premium courses. I recommend you take a look at speakenglishpodcast.com slash courses. Okay, we have reached the end of this episode.

I'll see you soon. Bye-bye.