This post needs no title.
February 10, 2017 3:36 PM   Subscribe

A logician approaches two men, knowing that one always tells the truth, and one always lies. She does not know which is which.
She asks the man on the left "Would your fellow tell me that Raymond Smullyan has died?"
The man replies "no."
The logician weeps.
Raymond Smullyan (1919–2017)

Raymond Smullyan, mathematician, logician, philosopher, and magician, was the author of dozens of books, including What Is the Name of This Book? and This Book Needs No Title.

As a doctoral student in mathematics, he published an article expanding the use of Gödel's incompleteness theorem; he would later use logic puzzles to explain that theorem to lay readers.

He named, and popularized, the "knights and knaves" puzzles, a simple example of which can be found at the start of this post. They got considerably more complex from there.

He was also a Taoist, who wrote extensively on the subject, with a signature use of logic in exploring that which transcends logic. My favorite piece of his is probably Planet Without Laughter, an extended parable in which humor stands in for enlightenment. More or less.

Previously, Previouslier
posted by Shmuel510 (56 comments total) 105 users marked this as a favorite
 
shit.

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posted by King Bee at 3:42 PM on February 10, 2017


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posted by HillbillyInBC at 3:42 PM on February 10, 2017


Oh man. In a lot of ways reading those books as a kid gave me the career I have.

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posted by PMdixon at 3:44 PM on February 10, 2017 [7 favorites]


A great mind who fairly and squarely managed to completely twist my own mind around in all kinds of crazy ways when I was in high school. His books, in their fashion, are as rich an education as any formal textbook, assuming you are willing to work at them. But it's really the delight he took in messing with his audience that made the puzzles worthwhile.

I can imagine Smullyan in the great beyond right now, looking up Rev. Dodgson to have a long chat.
posted by ardgedee at 3:44 PM on February 10, 2017 [4 favorites]


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posted by ZeusHumms at 3:53 PM on February 10, 2017


This might be the best lead-in to an obituary since "Derrida is not".
posted by Random_Tangent at 3:55 PM on February 10, 2017 [1 favorite]


but but we need logic more than ever

those books brought me such joy in my youth
posted by roger ackroyd at 3:57 PM on February 10, 2017 [1 favorite]


Oh, no! I have fond memories of his books, which my dad introduced me to. Rest in peace, sir.

In his memory, here's the "The Guards of the Sapphire City" sketch from John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme.
posted by Lexica at 3:58 PM on February 10, 2017 [4 favorites]


Oh no! This one really hits me hard. I basically went through each of the puzzles in Alice in Puzzleland and What's the Name of this Book? as a child and ignited a lifelong fascination with logic. At least he had a good run.
posted by peacheater at 4:07 PM on February 10, 2017


Growing up we had Martin Gardner's lovely puzzle-books around the house -- I especially remember being charmed by "Aha! Gotcha!" with its red cover topped with a cocky bird. I was just a kid at the time, so most of its intricacies were lost on me, but I remember being astonished that such a seemingly simple, straightforward thing as language could twist itself into such baffling knots.

When I was a little older, maybe around freshman year in high school, I discovered Doug Hofstadter's "Godel, Escher, Bach", which showed me that this knotty fabric of logic was woven into the very structure of our minds, from the humble roots of perception through the soaring canopy of metaphor. And that it could be such fun to trace those paths that seemed to run on forever into our own deepest thoughts.

And then there was Smullyan, the one I read last, master of the deepest mysteries. His book on Godel's incompleteness theorems was a cherished companion in graduate school, and I still fondly take down my copy of "Satan, Cantor, and Infinity" and read it from time to time, as much for his warm, humane humor as for the subtleties of his reasoning.

These three opened my eyes to the invisible skein of logic, the threads that for so long I thought held the very world together. Many thanks, Professor Smullyan, and fond farewells.
posted by informavore at 4:08 PM on February 10, 2017 [16 favorites]


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posted by Pendragon at 4:13 PM on February 10, 2017


I loved his book 5000 B.C.; also I recently read Rambles Through My Library, which I also commend to you.
posted by thelonius at 4:17 PM on February 10, 2017 [1 favorite]


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posted by saulgoodman at 4:25 PM on February 10, 2017


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posted by clew at 4:28 PM on February 10, 2017


What a fantastic above-the-fold intro to what appears to be a fascinating life. I can't wait to read more.
posted by TheNewWazoo at 4:28 PM on February 10, 2017


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posted by Jonathan Livengood at 4:31 PM on February 10, 2017


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posted by equalpants at 5:15 PM on February 10, 2017


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posted by freelanceastro at 5:39 PM on February 10, 2017


Thank you for linking to Planet Without Laughter. It was delightful.

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posted by a car full of lions at 5:47 PM on February 10, 2017




I had no idea he was still alive, but ... rest in peace, Mr. Smullyan, and many thanks for a lifelong love of puzzles and logical thinking. "To Mock a Mockingbird" was a mindbending read as a teenager.

Incidentally, archive.org has What is the Name of this Book.
posted by wanderingmind at 5:54 PM on February 10, 2017 [4 favorites]


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posted by JoeXIII007 at 6:08 PM on February 10, 2017


Raymond Smullyan is a man.
All men are mortals.


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posted by erniepan at 6:11 PM on February 10, 2017 [7 favorites]


I first came across the truth/lies logic puzzle in the Tom Baker era Dr Who episode Pyramids of Mars and took great delight in it as a child. I never knew where it came from until today, but that delight in logic and reasoning has always stayed with me.

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posted by drnick at 6:44 PM on February 10, 2017


Thanks very much for posting this. Too much nostalgia reading the What is the Name of This Book .pdf--how many hours I spent as a kid with books of the same nature and design esthetic as this one! I'm happy that Dr. Smullyan's passing is noted so fondly by the other nerds, a community he would surely have included himself in.
posted by Turtles all the way down at 6:53 PM on February 10, 2017


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posted by aletheia at 7:06 PM on February 10, 2017


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We had What Is the Name of This Book in the house as a kid and I remember trying & discussing the puzzles as a family thing, with my dad and older sister, perhaps the way other kids look back fondly on Sundays watching football. Still love that sort of puzzle today.

I'll add that while I don't have any real knowledge, the parts of his personality that came through in books and occasional interview at least make him seem like a real mensch.
posted by mark k at 7:08 PM on February 10, 2017




This sentence needs no words.
posted by polymodus at 7:21 PM on February 10, 2017 [1 favorite]


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posted by Gorgik at 7:26 PM on February 10, 2017


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posted by dougfelt at 8:35 PM on February 10, 2017


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posted by motty at 8:43 PM on February 10, 2017


What a wonderful, wonderful man.
posted by aspersioncast at 8:45 PM on February 10, 2017 [1 favorite]


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posted by gold-in-green at 9:51 PM on February 10, 2017


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posted by eruonna at 9:56 PM on February 10, 2017


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posted by one weird trick at 11:31 PM on February 10, 2017



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posted by lalochezia at 5:12 AM on February 11, 2017


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that's what I was going to do b1tr0t
posted by iffthen at 5:28 AM on February 11, 2017


Tao Ruspoli did a short doco some years ago. He also appears on Youtube in various bits and pieces, with Carson and doing close up magic.
posted by BWA at 5:51 AM on February 11, 2017


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posted by gd779 at 6:42 AM on February 11, 2017


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It's wonderful to be reminded of him today, even if the news is sad.
posted by LobsterMitten at 7:35 AM on February 11, 2017 [2 favorites]


I'd just found a used copy of "To Mock a Mockingbird." Time for me to sit down and actually read it again.

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posted by endotoxin at 8:00 AM on February 11, 2017 [1 favorite]


Just a "."
posted by Obscure Reference at 9:16 AM on February 11, 2017 [1 favorite]


The delight I took in his books during some troubled junior high/early high school years is something I'll always be profoundly grateful for. I'm not sure I would have developed such a fascination for logic if it hadn't been fore those books. And The Tao Is Silent really helped drive a (probably literally) life-saving wedge between me and the christian fundamentalism I was under the sway of at the time.

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posted by treepour at 10:08 AM on February 11, 2017 [3 favorites]


Add me to the list. Maybe I wouldn't be a mathematician now if I hadn't read his books as a kid.
posted by anzen-dai-ichi at 10:40 AM on February 11, 2017 [2 favorites]


I knew him briefly 27 years ago. I was a student in his graduate metalogic course on the proof of Gödel's incompleteness theorem using set theory (Indiana University, 1990). He actually taught only about the first third of the class before having heart surgery that put him out of commission for several months, but in that time I got the chance to experience first hand both his professional acumen as a logician and his considerable charm as a man. He told amazingly funny jokes while drilling difficult concepts into the heads of a roomful of philosophy grad students many of whom, like myself, were not exactly math geniuses but loved attending his lectures. It was a great privilege to have known and learned from Professor Smullyan even for that short period of time. May he rest in peace.
posted by JimInLoganSquare at 11:24 AM on February 11, 2017 [11 favorites]


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posted by Schmucko at 1:59 PM on February 11, 2017


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posted by acb at 3:23 PM on February 11, 2017


How the princess felt about it is not recorded.
posted by acb at 3:23 PM on February 11, 2017 [1 favorite]


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posted by motdiem2 at 3:24 PM on February 11, 2017


The Tao Is Silent is such a fantastic book, even if you only have a passing interest in taoism. This chapter, a conversation between God and A Mortal expressed a lot of my thoughts about Free Will better than I ever could.
posted by saul wright at 6:51 PM on February 11, 2017 [4 favorites]




saul wright, that is such a good dialog that I can't believe I'd forgotten about. Thanks for posting it.

(Now I kind of want to go back in time and do one meeting of a seminar where we read that and Dostoevsky's Grand Inquisitor...)
posted by acroyear2 at 6:56 AM on February 12, 2017 [1 favorite]


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posted by grimmelm at 7:33 PM on February 12, 2017


One of my childhood heros. Like Gardner, he provided this compelling vision of the mind at play. I still have Satan, Cantor and Infinity as well as 5000 BC and other Philosophical Fantasies on my bookshelf.

He had a good run but it is still sad to lose him especially in this time of growing anti-intellectualism.
posted by vacapinta at 10:47 PM on February 12, 2017 [1 favorite]


Incidentally, archive.org has What is the Name of this Book.

Looking through that, I discover it was the source for many of the somewhat corny "brain-teasers" that some of our school teachers were fond of ("A plane crashes directly on the border between the U.S. and Canada. Where do they bury the survivors?")
posted by thelonius at 1:21 AM on February 13, 2017 [1 favorite]


Metafilter: Your argument is ingenious, but I'm not sure it is really correct. There are some points we will have to go over again.

(From the dialogue saul wright linked to.)
posted by clew at 2:30 PM on February 13, 2017 [1 favorite]


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