Planet Without Laughter
Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 6:25 am
A tribute to Raymond Smullyan's 95th birthday (May 25).
According to a story, Smullyan made the following proposal on his first date to the woman who would eventually become his wife.
I will make a statement. If the statement is true, you give me your autograph. If the statement is false, you don’t give me your autograph.
After she agreed to this, he made the following statement:
You will give me neither your autograph nor a kiss.
Edit: At about 6 minutes in, Smullyan gives this story during his film For Martin Gardner and Friends: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDdx9N-Nxlc
No doubt many L19 members are fans of Raymond Smullyan's logic books. As much as I enjoy them, his This Book Needs No Title is my favorite and the book I give away most often. In particular, his included essay Planet Without Laughter (http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~uno/smullyan.html) is the closest I have ever come to enlightenment.
According to a story, Smullyan made the following proposal on his first date to the woman who would eventually become his wife.
I will make a statement. If the statement is true, you give me your autograph. If the statement is false, you don’t give me your autograph.
After she agreed to this, he made the following statement:
You will give me neither your autograph nor a kiss.
Edit: At about 6 minutes in, Smullyan gives this story during his film For Martin Gardner and Friends: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDdx9N-Nxlc
No doubt many L19 members are fans of Raymond Smullyan's logic books. As much as I enjoy them, his This Book Needs No Title is my favorite and the book I give away most often. In particular, his included essay Planet Without Laughter (http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~uno/smullyan.html) is the closest I have ever come to enlightenment.