A good paradox has the viewer confused, but the best paradoxes lead the viewer to try to understand what is happening. One of the author's favorites is the hydrostatic paradox, in which a short and slender column of water supports a relatively enormous weight. He describes the paradox using an illustration of a student who weighs 60 points stands on a platform placed atop a flat water-filled rubber hot-water bottle. Connected to the bottle is a slender upright glass tube, also filled with water. A column of water only four or so feet high supports the student.