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This is or is not a paradox depending on wether or not the man has said anything else to you.
A lot of people assume that if the statement "I always lie" is false, then the statement "I always tell the truth" must be true. But in reality, the opposite of "I always lie" is "I sometimes don't lie."
It is obvious that the man cannot be telling the truth, since if he is telling the truth, he must be lying. However, if he is lying when saying "Everything I tell you is a lie", then in reality, at least something (not everything) that he tells you should be the truth.
If this statement is the only thing he ever tells you, then we reach a paradox: it's like a statement saying that it's false.
However, if the man then proceeds to tell you something else, something that is true, then there is no paradox: he has lied to you about always lying. Some of what he tells you is truthful. |
