>[!abstract] >The Sorites paradox, also known as the paradox of the heap, arises from the problem of vagueness—specifically, how small incremental changes can lead from one clear case to another without a clear boundary in between. It is typically formulated as: if one grain of sand does not make a heap, and adding one grain cannot suddenly make it a heap, then no number of grains should ever form a heap—yet clearly, at some point, a heap exists. The paradox exposes the difficulty of applying precise logic to vague predicates like “heap,” “bald,” or “tall,” challenging classical notions of truth and prompting alternative approaches such as fuzzy logic, supervaluationism, or contextualism. >[!note] >This has applicability to societal rules. For example: >- A person is considered a minor one day before their eighteenth birthday, and an adult one day later, even though nothing substantial about the person has changed in that short interval. >- Much of the debate around abortion relies on the moment at which people agree that the fetus has become a baby, but the process of the former becoming the latter is continuous, not discrete; so any term limit must be arbitrary in some sense. >[!related] >- **North** (upstream): — >- **West** (similar): — >- **East** (different): — >- **South** (downstream): —