Welcome to ZENO'S COFFEEHOUSE

(Since 1994)

Zeno of Elea, a pre-Socratic philosopher, was born about 490 B.C. His style of argument was to assume, provisionally, the position of the opponent, and then to derive impossible conclusions from it, thus establishing the absurdity of the assumption. In the spirit of this Reductio Ad Absurdum dialectical approach to critical thinking, our Coffeehouse activities will tackle from time to time so-called 'common sense views,' analyzed critically. The mental gymnastics will be good exercise!......Ron Barnette, ZENO's proprietor

(And thanks to our many worldwide patrons, I am shamelessly proud to share many awards and recognitions Zeno's has received!) And as a special treat, for which Zeno's is most proud, I want to share Alan White's remarkable Zeno's Coffeehouse philosophy song, Paradoxes, written for the Coffeehouse! His website on philosophy songs is quite unique. Check it out, and don't miss the section where he sings the songs...many, many songs!!

NEW CHALLENGE:  Maggie's Road Trip

For a fun interactive treat, try your hand at Ann Dixon's Prisoner's Dilemma game!

And always remember,
"At Zeno's, Don't Ever Ask Anyone to Meet You Halfway"

Previous results are listed below, in chronological order from 1994 (with comments and original challenges).

The results of our first Zeno's challenge are in. Check them out! You'll be amused, and no doubt intrigued.

The results of our second Zeno's challenge are now in, involving choices of the mysterious boxes. Take a look for rational-choice options.

The results of our third Zeno's challenge are now in. See what some Zeno's patrons had to say about an all-powerful number-writer!

The results of our fourth challenge are in, over the wager between Maggie and Charles. Check out the responses!

The results of our fifth Zeno's challenge are now in, and you've got to review the numbers! Recall that this challenge was a repeat of the first one, which is significant---or so it would seem

The results of our sixth Challenge are in, and several Zeno's patrons figured out how to reduce the number of questions necessary to one. Good work!

The results of the seventh challenge, the hourglass problem, are in, and are available here

The results of Marinoff's Challenge: the Tragedy of the Coffeehouse, are in, and are available here. Very interesting results indeed!

The results of the ninth challenge are in, and the B&B riddle has been solved!

The results of the tenth challenge are available here

The controversial results of the eleventh challenge are finally in, and patrons seem divided over what is the most rational choice for Charles. Click here for details!

The twelfth challenge results are here---time flies indeed!

The very interesting results from #13 are now available here. You won't believe the outcome!! Check it out!...

Challenge #14 and #15 results will soon be posted here. Very creative solutions!

Challenge #16 on 'Bold Charles'  money giveaway decision-choices yielded INCREDIBLE results. CHECK THIS OUT!!

Challenge #17 on the Across the Border Drinking solution results are here. Very interesting solutions...

Challenge #18 results are most interesting...entries from around the world do vary somewhat---which are the correct ones?? And who provided the most elegant reasoning??

Challenge #19 results are here--check out John Samaras' and Lauri Kultti's solutions!! Good read!!

Challenge #20 results are now available here---you must read the details...Wow!!!

Many responses to Challenge #21 were received, regarding the amounts of coffee and tea--look here for the results--more posted soon!! divided opinions, as usual!!

Many, many disputed answers were given to Challenge #22. Check out the result given by Troy Williamson here!

Here are the results of the apparently easy Challenge #23..Wow, were there a lot of winners!! Good!!

Results of the long-running Challenges #24 and #25 will be available shortly...Interesting responses!!

Challenge 26 solution is here.. 1000 responses!! Most got it!! But not all....:)

Finally!! Zeno's Challenge #27 results are in!! Many attempts were made, and here is the winning solution.

My goodness....hundreds of patrons responded to challenge #28..Look here soon for the results.....incredible!

Tons of responses poured in for the 'Mind Reading' challenge! Check here for results. And Here is the original Mind Reader!

The Black and White challenge #30 generated over 900 responses! Check here for results!

"Who's Saying What?"--challenge 31---results are here. Over 700 responses...interesting reasoning. Check out Mr. Buxton's reasoning.

Wow! Was the Family Reunion problem hotly discussed!! Check here for a nice result.

For those other 300 of you who have waited patiently for the Key Lime Pie problem to be solved, see this great response from Dr. Daniel Stankiewicz

Hundreds of replies were received for challenge #35. Check out Jim Anderson's solution here.

At last! Here are the results of Challenge #36....brace yourselves!!!!

Here's the solution to the 'Two Ropes' clock!

The solution to Two Problems from Charles---challenge #38---is now available here. Thanks, Will!

Challenge #39 had 97 respondents, and Alan White had fun with his solution here!

Very interesting replies to Challenge #40, the Guinness Paradox.....Here is the result!

Challenge #41 is now available here....Does Al have his Guinness?

Challenge #42 results on Googlizing (is that a word??) are available here!

Challenge #43 results are here, representing a mixed set of replies! Nice mix of reasoned answers indeed!

The Challenge #44 results are here...what an amazing array of thoughtful replies!

Challenge #45 results are here...time travel thoughts were quite diverse!

Challenge #46 results will be posted soon....interesting indeed!

Challenge #47 results are in, and are posted here. Good work!!!

Here are the deductive results from Challenge #48. Good job!!

Challenge #49 results are now available here! Great job!

Here are the results from our last challenge #50...several successful translations! Thanks!

Challenge #51 results are in...check them out! Most appreciated.

Challenge #52 results are here! Very interesting results indeed.

Finally! Challenge #53 results are in...a very complex problem, as it turned out! Most interesting.

Over 200 Challenge #54 responses were amazing and most diverse! Check out some of the responses and samples here!

Challenge #55, incredibly, had no takers! Let us make up for that with our latest challenge....

"Patterns and Discovery," Challenge #56 results are available here. Congratulations to winning contributors!

The #57 paradox of voting challenge results are in. Check them out here, along with some responses. Good job!

Challenge #58 results are now available here. Many replies to the 'Mind Reader simulation' were received!

Finally, Challenge #59 results are in....thanks for your patience!

And here's the Challenge #60 results.

Challenge #61 results are in! Thanks to all who replied to this!

Thanks for the worldwide responses for Challenge #62 about mirror phenomena. Here are the results!

Challenge #63 results are in! Please review some thoughtful responses.

Challenge #64 results are now here! Many reflective comments indeed.

Challenge #65 results are here! Very thoughtful reflections indeed.

Challenge #66 results are here. Creative ideas continue!

Challenge #67 results on Time Travel are here now!

Challenge #68 results are forthcoming soon!

Challenge #69 results are here!

Challenge #70 results are here!

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