The Unstoppable Force Vs Immovable Object Paradox

By Charles Moffat.

I have solved the unstoppable force / immovable object paradox.

The Irresistible Force Paradox, also called the Unstoppable Force Paradox, is a classic paradox formulated as "What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?"

The origin of the paradox is from China, wherein the metaphor originates in the Chinese story of a perfect spear that can pierce all shields and a perfect shield that stops all spears. The story is found in the 3rd century BC philosophical book Han Feizi. In the story, a man was trying to sell a spear and a shield. When he was asked how good his spear was, he said that his spear could pierce any shield. Then, when asked how good his shield was, he said that it could defend from all spear attacks. Then someone asked him what would happen if he were to take his spear to strike his shield; the seller could not answer. This led to the Chinese idiom of "zìxīang máodùn" (自相矛盾), which means "self-contradictory", wherein the Chinese word 矛盾; pinyin: máodùn; means "Spear-Shield".

A variation on this paradox can also be found in the Greek story of the Teumessian fox, who can never be caught, and the hound Laelaps, who never misses what it hunts. Realizing the paradox, Zeus turned both creatures into static stars which "chase" each other across the night sky.

Lastly there is another form of this paradox, believed to have been created by an atheist, which challenges the omnipotence of god. It asks "Can God create a stone so heavy it cannot be lifted, not even by God Himself?"). If god is truly all powerful, he should be able to create a stone that even god can't lift. But if god is all powerful, then why can't he lift the stone?

Anyway back to my original topic, this matter can be determined through physics and logic.

For an object to be called immovable it would have to have "infinite mass".

For a force to be unstoppable it would likewise need to have "infinite torque".

If you shoot an arrow from a bow with 30 lbs of torque, it will continue on its path until slowed by air and obstacles equal to the amount of force applied. If the arrow has 45 lbs of torque instead of 30 it will go 50% further, or in the case of an archery target, the arrow will embed itself 50% deeper (minus any difference caused by air along the way). However if the arrow has infinite torque then when it loses say 45 lbs of torque, its no big deal, because there is still an infinite amount of torque left.

Thus when an unstoppable force with infinite torque meets a so-called immovable object with infinite mass, there can only be one solution: The immovable object is then moved. The flaw for the object is that it lacks any force holding it in place. The only thing that can move the immovable object is something with infinite torque, because there will always be more infinite torque to keep pushing the object regardless of its infinite mass. The so-called immovable object is not truly immovable, because it has no energy holding it in place.

Of course, in the end there is no such things as irresistible forces and immovable objects. Neither can possibly exist.

Or can they?

TIME is an unstoppable force. It can speed up or slow down relative to gravity in that area of space, but it does not stop.

A BLACK HOLE therefore is our universe's equivalent of an immovable object. The gravity surrounding it is so strong that it can slow down time relative to the rest of the universe and its mass is so great it is considered to be infinite.

However Black Holes still move through the galaxy, moving through both time and space. So they are indeed moving.

Thus, the Unstoppable Force (Time) wins.