I want to lay claim to this term.

Incredulity Paradox – definition: at a news conference with Donald Trump yesterday a Pakistani journalist claimed that the President could get the Noble Prize if he mediated a Kashmir peace deal between India and Pakistan. Trump responded that he should receive it anyway “for a lot of things, if they gave it out fairly”.

An obvious response is ‘Did he really fucking say that?’ An obvious response is ‘Of course he really fucking said that!’

This is the Incredulity Paradox.

This symptom/scenario has existed for centuries, exemplified through Greek tragedy and Shakespeare’s plays – to name two popular portrayers of the human condition – but the 21^st century, and our current decade, have seen its crystallisation to a fundamental fact of daily life, especially through our political world and its institutions/representatives.

Had I the inclination and cleverness, I’d cite in detail many recent, incredulous/not incredulous examples, but we all know it exists. There are those who do not know it exists.