Abstract / Synopsis
For over two millennia thinkers have wrestled with Zeno's paradoxes on space, time, motion, and the nature of infinity. In this article we compare and contrast representations of Zeno's paradoxes in three works of interactive fiction, Beyond Zork, The Chinese Room, and A Beauty Cold and Austere. Each of these works incorporates one of Zeno's paradoxes as part of a puzzle that the player must solve in order to advance and ultimately complete the story. As such, the reader must engage more deeply with the paradoxes than he or she would in a static work of fiction. In addition, each of the three works presents a different perspective on the intellectual challenges associated with the paradoxes.
DOI
10.5642/jhummath.202001.05
Recommended Citation
Michael Z. Spivey, "Engaging the Paradoxical: Zeno's Paradoxes in Three Works of Interactive Fiction," Journal of Humanistic Mathematics, Volume 10 Issue 1 (January 2020), pages 39-65. DOI: 10.5642/jhummath.202001.05. Available at: https://scholarship.claremont.edu/jhm/vol10/iss1/5
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