The purpose of douglas hofstadter s new book is to make inroads into the nexus of self, selfawareness and consciousness by examining selfreferential structures in areas as. Yes, its about goedel, and recursion, and strange loops, and linguistics bach and ants and all that but only trivially. Today, more than two thousand years after heraclitus wrote those words, science has shrunk the boundaries of the soul. The typical reader seesm to think of geb as a jouyous romp through any number of fascinating bits of logic, math and science without any idea as to what hofstaders actually doing. Strange loops a guided tour through douglas hofstadter s paradoxical concept of strange loops, and what they reveal about the ultimate nature of. Compulsively readable and endlessly thoughtprovoking, this is a moving and profound inquiry into the nature of mind.
Pulitzerprize winner douglas hofstadter takes on some weighty and wonderful questions in i am a strange loopamong them, the size of a soul and the vagaries of thoughtand proposes persuasive answers that surprised me both with their simplicity and their sense of optimism. Intelligence, art, music, and life are a strange loop. Feedback loops can result in adaptive behavior, and might give the impression that the system is trying to achieve a goal. Over the course of the first decade of the new millennium, douglas hofstadter worked on two topics that had long been close to their heart. One of our greatest philosophers and scientists of the mind.
Books i am a strange loop by douglas hofstadter scott oreilly loops the loop with douglas hofstadter. Irrationality is the square root of all evil sep, 1983 scientific american 249 3 article reprinted in metamagical themas 1985 which statement seems more true. I am a strange loop douglas hofstadter books in brief. The most recent, published this year by basic, is douglas hofstadter s i am a strange loop. This is a question that hofstadter, like searle, cannot bring himself to ask. I am a strange loop, douglas r hofstadter shop online for. Douglas hofstadter, justifiably famous for godel, escher, bach wrote about the much trickier subject of mind and personal identity in this 2004 book. In this book, hofstadter observes that due to the attention that other aspects of geb garnered, the main point, that of strange loops being the origin of the human. A brief statement of the essence of hofstadters 2007 book, i am a strange loop and therefore of the essence of consciousness and inviduality. The concept of a strange loop was proposed and extensively discussed by douglas hofstadter in godel, escher, bach, and is further elaborated in hofstadters book i am a strange loop, published in 2007. Hofstadter, a professor of cognitive science at indiana university, is best known for his pulitzer prize winning godel, escher, bach, or geb as he likes to call it. You would not find the boundaries of the soul no matter how many paths you traveled, so deep is its measure. Douglas hofstadter born february 15, 1945 is a mathematician, cognitive scientist, and pulitzer prize winning author. I am a strange loop free summary by douglas hofstadter.
Strange loops of translation doug robinson many loops. As in his other books, hofstadter has written a deeply. It was an escher print, a recursive geometric puzzle. Hofstadter was written in 2008 and is the authors follow up to godel, escher, bach, also known as geb.
Borrowing a page from lewis carroll who might well have been a fan of this book, each chapter presents dialogue between the tortoise and achilles, as well. Strange loops may involve selfreference and paradox. Chapter two by the time i flew to indiana to meet douglas hofstadter, i was so steeped in his writings that i found myself thinking like him, or like i like to think he thinks. The i in the title refers to the concept of the i in all of us. Hofstadters great achievement in godel, escher, bach was making abstruse mathematical topics like undecidability, recursion, and strange loops accessible and remarkably entertaining. These are the mysteries tackled in i am a strange loop, douglas hofstadter s first booklength journey into philosophy since goedel, escher, bach. I am a strange loop by douglas hofstadter issue 78 philosophy. For hofstadter, consciousness emerge as what he calls a strange loop. To get into a properly loopy mindset for douglas r. These are the mysteries tackled in i am a strange loop, douglas hofstadters first booklength journey into philosophy since godel, escher, bach. Buy a cheap copy of i am a strange loop book by douglas r. Hofstadter s first booklength journey into philosophy since godel, escher, bach. Pulitzerprize winner douglas hofstadter takes on some weighty and wonderful questions in i am a strange loopamong. Strange loops takes its title from the concept developed by douglas hofstadter in his books godel, escher, bach and i am a strange loop.
Godel, escher, bach by douglas hofstadter the strange loop phenomenon occurs whenever by moving upwards or downwards through the levels of some hierarchical system, we unexpectedly find ourselves right back where we started. Dec 02, 2017 strange loops a guided tour through douglas hofstadter s paradoxical concept of strange loops, and what they reveal about the ultimate nature of existence and consciousness. I am a strange loop attempts to correct this problem by better illustrating how inanimate matter can lead to animate beings with awareness and consciousness. These are the mysteries tackled in i am a strange loop, douglas hofstadters first booklength journey into philosophy since godel, escher. Through many types of abstraction and analogymaking and inductive reasoning, and through many long and tortuous chains of citations of all sorts of authorities which constitute an indispensable pillar supporting every adults belief system, despite the insistence of highschool teachers who year after year teach that arguments by authority are spurious and are convinced that they. Strange loops arise when one moves through a system in one direction, yet somehow ends up back at the beginning.
Hofstadter explains, in painstaking detail, how purely physical processes generate minds and meaning. Escher or more precisely, his art is prominent in the golden braid. A brief statement of the essence of hofstadter s 2007 book, i am a strange loop and therefore of the essence of consciousness and inviduality. Compulsively readable and endlessly thoughtprovoking, this is the book hofstadter s many readers have long been waiting for. He exemplifies this by providing examples of loops in backs music, eschers sketches, and godels theorems. Oct 24, 2008 posted on october 24, 2008 by strange loops godel, escher, bach by douglas hofstadter has long been one of my favorite books. The purpose of douglas hofstadter s new book is to make inroads into the nexus of self, selfawareness and consciousness by examining selfreferential structures in areas as diverse as art and mathematics. Like and that is also the way the human mind works by the compounding of old ideas into new structures that become new ideas that can themselves be used in compounds, and round and round endlessly, growing ever more remote from the basic earthbound imagery that. The concept of a strange loop was originally developed in his 1979 book godel, escher, bach.
Hofstadter felt a need to write a new book because so many people misperceived geb as a. Intelligent machines, if we ever build them, and aliens, if we ever encounter them, must have loopy minds, as we do. Mar 09, 2019 bach, escher and godels strange loops may have the answer in 1979, a cult book by douglas hofstadter explored consciousness via a mathematical idea found in art and music. Mar 26, 2007 i am a strange loop should not be taken to mean douglas hofstadter is a strange loop. By uriah kriegel the times literary supplement, april 25, 2007. Posted on october 24, 2008 by strange loops godel, escher, bach by douglas hofstadter has long been one of my favorite books. I am a strange loop by douglas hofstadter issue 78. I thought, im looking out the plane at a plain, which is also a plane. Hofstadter, one of whose specialties is the study of feedback loops in complex systems, coins sometimes unfortunate terms for our own loopy ways of thinking, among them thinkodynamics and statistical mentalics, but the governing idea is a fruitful one. Scott oreilly loops the loop with douglas hofstadter. That book tackles what it means to be conscious and how consciousness or meaning could arise out of unconsious and meaningless elements i.
The most recent, published this year by basic, is douglas hofstadters i am a strange loop. Hofstadter always has an intriguing and playful way to present his thinking. Hofstadter was shopping with his family for a video camera. I am a strange loop by douglas hofstadter abebooks. Godel, escher, bach by douglas hofstadter has long been one of my favorite books. I am a strange loop should not be taken to mean douglas hofstadter is a strange loop. A new journey into hofstadters mind scientific american. While there are lots of examples in visual art eschers waterfall and drawing hands and in. His previous books are the pulitzer prizewinning godel, escher, bach. The strange loop phenomenon occurs whenever, by moving upwards or downwards through levels of some hierarchial system, we unexpectedly find ourselves right back where we started. The most recent, published this year by basic, is douglas. In the end, we are selfperceiving, selfinventing, lockedin mirages that are little miracles of selfreference. Pulitzerprize winner douglas hofstadter takes on some weighty and wonderful questions in i am a strange.
By using the analogy of godels incompleteness theorem, a mathematical system that looks at itself, hofstadter shows how indirect mappings in the human mind can loop back on itself and. Douglas hofstadter born february 15, 1945 is a mathematician, cognitive scientist, and pulitzer prize winning author quotes. Strange loops serve, for hofstadter, as a general principle of cognition, whatever form it takes. I am a strange loop, douglas r hofstadter shop online. And the book does an excellent job of presenting his views on just how the i forms in a brain, what kind of hardware may be necessary for an i, what kinds of i am out there, and on. It is one thing to analyze the relation between three applications their results in math, visual art, and music of selfreferencing thought, and quite another to analyze the entity doing the. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Douglas hofstadter is college of arts and sciences professor of cognitive science and computer science at indiana university, bloomington. In the big strangeloops book hofstadter 2007 they referred in passing to translating in a broad sense, especially between godels theorem and english 145 and as an analogue of the replicability of patterns 224, 257 a theme that had helped organize the cognitive science of their big translation book hofstadter 1997 but never as.
Mar 27, 2007 these are the mysteries tackled in i am a strange loop, douglas r. I am a strange loop is a 2007 book by douglas hofstadter, examining in depth the concept of a strange loop to explain the sense of i. This book contains a lot of different perspectives on the problem so if you are interested in a more concise reading for this philosophy, you may want to read i am. Tries to argue that people find infiniterecursive loops intimidating. Douglas hofstadter is a distinguished professor of cognitive science and comparative literature at indiana university. After pointing the camera at his parents and himself, he was tempted to point it at the tv screen that displayed the cameras video.
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