Public Biography
Noel Stettner is a database administrator for the Dane County Department of Public Works in Madison, Wisconsin, where he has worked since 2004. He attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison, graduating in 1995 with a degree in information systems.
Mr. Stettner came to public attention in March 2026 after becoming trapped in what epistemologists have identified as a version of the preface paradox — the realization that he believes all of his individual beliefs to be true while simultaneously believing that it is not possible for all of a person’s beliefs to be true. He has described the situation as “a problem” and, on several occasions, as “still a problem.”
Since mid-January 2026, Mr. Stettner has spent his mornings at his kitchen table cataloging his beliefs on legal pads, attempting to identify one that he considers false. He has filled eleven legal pads. He has not found one. He is married to Laura Stettner. They have one daughter, Megan, a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin studying philosophy, whose mention of epistemic humility during a January visit initiated the crisis.