In high school I enjoyed reading "What Is the Name of This Book?" Lots of fun.
Raymond Smullyan has died
21–30 of 63 posts
Re: Raymond Smullyan has died
#22His book 'The Lady or the Tiger' came at a pivotal point in my life in my early forties, actually helped lift me out of a deep depression upon being separated from my children. I had planned to write him to see if I could visit him, but never did.
He inspired me, and has touched my children's lives as well.
A great human being. I'm saddened upon waking to this news. I had hoped the NYT was an errant knight in this case.
Re: Raymond Smullyan has died
#23"The Lady or the Tiger" is, quite literally, probably the single most influential book from my childhood. In 6th grade, my math teacher had a copy in his classroom. He noticed that I spent so much time before class, after class, (during class) reading it, that at the end of the school year he told me I could take it home so long as I promised to bring it back at the end of the summer. (He was also the 7th and 8th gra…
Thank you a lot for linking the "Is God a Taoist?" Essay. For somebody as young and easily influenced as me (who is currently not very involved in philosophy and religion) it might actually have a great impact on my understanding of both - or at least it is an excellent starting point for further thoughts on the subject.
Re: Raymond Smullyan has died
#24The Tao is Silent.
Re: Raymond Smullyan has died
#25The New York Times says that Raymond Smullyan is dead? I'm not sure I believe it. If I asked CNN whether Fox News would answer "da" if asked whether Smullyan is dead, would they answer "ja"?
Isn't this a spoiler? I haven't seen the puzzle in a while.
Re: Raymond Smullyan has died
#26> "I invented a new religion for you last night. God has a number in mind. If the sum total of all good acts minus the sum total of all bad acts exceeds this number then everyone goes to heaven. Otherwise, everyone goes to hell. Imagine then. Something you do could send everyone to hell."
Yes, imagine community where everyone is policing everything everyone else does. What you do is no longer a question of your own personal responsibility before God. Now everyone has a stake making sure you are behaving only In Good Way (tm).
Re: Raymond Smullyan has died
#27RIP, Sir
Re: Raymond Smullyan has died
#28I have taken classes from fitting and joined colloquiums from Raymond. Learned a lot from them. RIP.
Re: Raymond Smullyan has died
#29"The Lady or the Tiger" is, quite literally, probably the single most influential book from my childhood. In 6th grade, my math teacher had a copy in his classroom. He noticed that I spent so much time before class, after class, (during class) reading it, that at the end of the school year he told me I could take it home so long as I promised to bring it back at the end of the summer. (He was also the 7th and 8th gra…
Thank you a lot for linking the "Is God a Taoist?" Essay. For somebody as young and easily influenced as me (who is currently not very involved in philosophy and religion) it might actually have a great impact on my understanding of both - or at least it is an excellent starting point for further thoughts on the subject.
If this interests you I can highly recommend the book 'Trying Not To Try'!
Re: Raymond Smullyan has died
#30> "I invented a new religion for you last night. God has a number in mind. If the sum total of all good acts minus the sum total of all bad acts exceeds this number then everyone goes to heaven. Otherwise, everyone goes to hell. Imagine then. Something you do could send everyone to hell." Yes, imagine community where everyone is policing everything everyone else does. What you do is no longer a question of your own p…
Note that present day religions all are about how other people should live, not just about how you should live.