Why—a while ago I stumbled on one guy who’d managed to get something actually practical and useful from Smullyan’s book. I could sort of figure out what it was all about but deeper understanding eluded me. I knew of Smullyan’s work through of Hoftstadter but hadn’t read any of his books previously. I bought TMaM a while ago but, to be frank, the puzzles had scared me away, until I picked it up again recently, determined to grok the whole thing.
Results—it has led me to revisit The Cartoon Guide to Löb’s Theorem, something I wasn’t quite expecting to turn up. I don’t fully understand it yet, or the link between combinatorial logic and that Theorem, but it’s starting to make sense.
Working through Smullyan’s To Mock a Mockingbird.
Why—a while ago I stumbled on one guy who’d managed to get something actually practical and useful from Smullyan’s book. I could sort of figure out what it was all about but deeper understanding eluded me. I knew of Smullyan’s work through of Hoftstadter but hadn’t read any of his books previously. I bought TMaM a while ago but, to be frank, the puzzles had scared me away, until I picked it up again recently, determined to grok the whole thing.
Results—it has led me to revisit The Cartoon Guide to Löb’s Theorem, something I wasn’t quite expecting to turn up. I don’t fully understand it yet, or the link between combinatorial logic and that Theorem, but it’s starting to make sense.
Finished it. Strongly recommended.