Raymond Smullyan and the Giant Mystic Boner

Those who know me well know that Raymond Smullyan gives me a giant mystic boner. Let me explain, lest anyone read this and not understand what I mean.

I love his writings. Not all of them, of course - there isn't a damn writer anywhere all of whose writings are loved by anyone. But some of them induce a certain mood, a certain state in me, that is just plain delightful. 

It's unique, it's New York (Catskills), it's Tao.

Now many of you will be familiar with boners, if not through first hand experience then possibly secondhand or by word of mouth. I hold no truck with boners per se here. I am more interested, although that's not the right word, with using the term to express fondness for and a special reaction to something. Others have done a similar kind of thing with eargasm and foodgasm, or lamented that their soul had been kicked in the crotch.

I'm trying to put my finger on the kind of non-literal boner his writings give me. It's partly intellectual, because the mind cannot help but flicker with life upon reading them. But there's something ineffable about them, something beyond intellectual, at their best. They induce a certain stillness of mind, a certain lack of awareness, or direct perception of something, that... well, you see what I mean by ineffable. Anyway, I once would have run a mile in the opposite direction at the first mention of the word mystic. I probably still would in most cases. But not in this one.

I run to it. Well, I don't run. I stroll over, pick it up, try to find where I was up to, curl up on the couch, get interrupted by something and come back to it later.

So someone has been contracted to write a Big Raymond Smullyan Book. This is news to me, and to Google as well. My first thought was I'd like to read it when it comes out. My second thought - although it could have been equal first, really - was that I wouldn't mind contributing to it. Not only wouldn't I mind, I'd quite enjoy it. So here I am, writing something that is not written for the purposes of being included in the BRSB. But I am writing and it is kind of about Raymond Smullyan. If I do right something for submission to the author, it'll have to be a cut above the usual fan fare. In the spirit of the Tao is Silent, it should not be about Raymond Smullyan, but inspired by him. And it will be dedicated to my wife, my children, my family, friends, colleagues and everyone else.

~~~

A Logic Puzzle
In a town there are just two types of people. Those that, when told "doodle oodle oodle whee", reply "doodle oodle oodle whee". I will call these people DOOWers. And those that stop saying "doodle oodle oodle whee". I will call these people DON'Ters. If you need to get directions to the local steakhouse, to whom should you speak and what should you say?

Solution: There is no logical solution to this puzzle.