ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Proebsting's paradox

Proebsting's Paradox is a computer programming problem that involves the amount of time it takes for a program to execute. It states that as computers become faster, certain programs seem to run slower even though they have been optimized for speed.

Imagine you and your friend are racing to the finish line. You both run at the same speed, but your friend has a head start. As you both run, you start to catch up to your friend. However, since your friend is getting tired and slowing down, they will never cross the finish line even if you continue to run at the same speed.

This is similar to Proebsting's Paradox. As computers get faster, the time it takes for a certain program to execute may decrease, but the improvements will eventually reach a point of diminishing returns. This means that even if the computer continues to get faster, the program will never execute faster because it has already been optimized as much as possible. The program will hit a limit and not improve further, no matter how much faster the computer becomes.

So, Proebsting's Paradox is a problem that arises as a result of the limits of optimizing computer programs, limits that can't be overcome even with improvements in hardware.