Contradictions and Paradoxes in Society

I have noticed many contradictory things in society that are interesting to contemplate. My unfortunate inability to cease thinking means that many irrelevant things become apparent to me--including these contradictions--and I cannot help but give them serious thought.
The long and the short of it--I was working at my extremely boring job and noticed some weird things, so I will tell you about them. Maybe you will respond with your own observations after reading some of mine.
Or you can just skip to posting your observations. I would like to hear about the paradoxes you have noticed, because mine may seem boring.

I'm a night stocker. I put groceries on shelves all night long. I have much boredom. I wish I could write at the computer while I work, but I guess with such a fantastic job I cannot expect too many more benefits.

The first thing I noticed was that all of the boxes (contrary to what the news has told me) are shrinking. The fifteen ounce box is now thirteen ounces and still costs the same. This itself is not really a contradiction, but is note-worthy none-the-less. The news lies (gasp).

A paradox I noticed involved the "Private Selection" label that City Market uses. It is meant to be cheaper than most foods. (You know the cheap stuff, like cereal in giant bags. Basically knock-offs of brand-name products.) The paradox is that Private Selection is a knock-off of organic, high-quality food. So it attempts to be known as dirt-cheap and high-roller at the same time. For instance, it offers organic peanut butter at twice the price of normal Kroger peanut butter, but at about twenty cents cheaper than the expensive brand-name organic peanut butter. What a convoluted way to try and sell a product-- to try and make it seem classy and trashy at the same time.

Another contradiction involving price that I noticed was that the City Market "Value" line... which is sort of like the knock-off of knock-off foods... is more expensive per unit than the regular brand. This "Value" line has no advertising and comes in uniform white boxes or jars, and yet often costs more than the advertised City Market products. Of course, both types of product contain the exact same thing (they just have different packages) but I think it is interesting that City Market is duping people into paying more for less--by tricking people who assume that you get what you pay for. The error lies in thinking that cheaper looking stuff is actually less expensive.
I just realized that probably nobody cares at all about any of this. That is okay. Let me note a contradiction unrelated to my work, which may be more entertaining.

It is breast cancer awareness month. (Does anybody know what breast cancer is? Just kidding.) What about prostate cancer? It kills almost three-quarters as many men as breast cancer kills women, but we seldom hear of it. I guess it is because guys dislike thinking about their colons and prefer thinking about breasts... that was also a joke. I am only moderately sexist toward my own sex. Anywho, back on topic: no prostate-cancer awareness month. Why not?
Well, after a quick search I found that even though that many die, (28,000 a year in the US, compared to 40,000 for breast cancer) prostate cancer is often never detected in males because they die of other causes first. It boils down to "men die by the time they get the cancer anyway." Since it is most common in men over fifty, it must seem less relevant. I find that kinda sad... and I wonder what would happen if males started to die from circulatory problems less. Will prostate cancer related deaths become more common?

It is also doughnut month. Maybe we just have too many things to dedicate months to.

Another contradiction, and this one related to philosophy: are cause-and-effect and free-will irreconcilable? To simplify, if every effect has a cause, do we have free will? Of course, the cause will also have its own cause, with its own cause, with its own cause... etc, to a beginning or back forever or whatever you believe. Either you must believe that cause-and-effect is not inviolate (there are some causeless events) or you must believe in determinism... or maybe not. Anyone care to explain this contradiction?

That last paragraph was added so I could sound more sophisticated. In any case, that's all I got for now. Anybody else have anything interesting to add?

One final thing. I have mentioned sexism, the media, and money. This could quickly get out of hand... so if you think some of my observations or anyone else's are simply wrong, don't respond to those observations. This IS a serious discussion, but no need to make it an angry one. C'mon people, I just want to hear about some personally-noticed paradoxes.
Thanks.

You have a lot of time on your hands.

Another contradiction, and this one related to philosophy: are cause-and-effect and free-will irreconcilable? To simplify, if every effect has a cause, do we have free will?

No.

Originally Posted by 8bit

You have a lot of time on your hands.



No.

I belive you are right good sir. I think they are. I can choose to post or not post, play zelda or not play zelda. Nothing predetermines what I want to do in the exact moment except for what I choose. Sure, I can be more likely to choose one way or the other, but you can't actually know until it happens.

You should look into quantum mechanics. That stuff will provide some interesting insight into this.