Compulsively readable and endlessly thoughtprovoking, this is the book hofstadter s many readers have long been waiting for. In hofstadters wife carol died suddenly of a brain tumor at only 42, leaving i am a strange loop is vintage hofstadter. Dec 29, 2019 in hofstadters wife carol died suddenly of a brain tumor at only 42, leaving i am a strange loop is vintage hofstadter. I am a strange loop should not be taken to mean douglas hofstadter is a strange loop.
How has hofstadters i am a strange loop been received. So, a mirage that only exists because it perceives itself. Not so fast, protests pulitzer prizewinning cognitive scientist douglas hofstadter in i am a strange loop the thoughtful companion to godel, escher, bach, his. I am a strange loop is a 2007 book by douglas hofstadter, examining in depth the concept of. He truly provides no concrete reasons to believe only assertions, which are worth pondering if not agreeing with. I am a strange loop by douglas hofstadter issue 78. Godels proof step by step from douglas hofstadters i am a strange loop. Compulsively readable and endlessly thoughtprovoking, this is a moving and profound inquiry into the nature of mind. In donald douglas hofstadters preface to his book i am a strange loop, he says that he didnt like how geb was received, and that this new book was to be a somewhat rehashing of the central idea of geb. Review i am a strange loop is thoughtful, amusing and infectiously enthusiastic.
The i in the title refers to the concept of the i in all of us. But much more could have been said in hofstadters book in terms of relating his own ideas to others involved in mainstream philosophy of mind. I am a strange loop argues that the key to understanding selves and consciousness is the strange loop a special kind of abstract feedback loop inhabiting our brains. I am a strange loop tales from the loop hook, loop n lock. 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. Douglas hofstadters i am a strange loop on the self april 9, 20 by mark linsenmayer 8 comments from our lacan episode and my comparison of lacan with sartre, you might think that this no self deal was just a continental idea. The i is the nexus in our brain, one of many symbols seeming to have free will and to have gained the.
Pdf godels proof step by step from douglas hofstadters. The most recent, published this year by basic, is douglas. As in his other books, hofstadter has written a deeply. The concept of a strange loop was originally developed in his 1979 book godel, escher, bach.
But this is not necessarily a bad thing this actually makes it a good first book for the uninitiated. 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. What is the central thesis of douglas hofstadters book i. Douglas hodstadter i am a strage loop, perseus books, 2007. Apr 03, 2015 these are the mysteries tackled in i am a strange loop, douglas r. Has hofstadters concept of strange loop been given a more. A strange loop is a hierarchy of levels, each of which is linked to at least one other by some type of relationship.
Een strange loop is een structuur welke op een of andere manier door een. Review of i am a strange loop by douglas hofstadter 2007 michael starks. Jun 19, 2019 what this story lacks is an understanding of how a unique pointofview makes the self what it is. Strange loops of selfawareness existing on multiple levels as in godels famous proof create hallucinations of a hallucination, and so an i forms. Scott oreilly loops the loop with douglas hofstadter. Welted sheaths with snap fastener and mexican loop big loop maps, mountain bike trail map. May 10, 2007 does hofstadter explain consciousness away, or not.
And indeed, it is impossible to come away from this book without having introduced elements. Douglas richard hofstadter is an american scholar of cognitive science, physics, and comparative literature whose research focuses on consciousness, thinking and creativity. This book inspired thousands of students to begin careers in computing and artificial intelligence. And indeed, it is impossible to come away from this book without having introduced elements of. Godel s proof step by step from douglas hofstadter s i am a strange loop. Douglas hofstadter am strange loop pdf i am a strange loop is vintage hofstadter. The idea of i am a strange loop is that we develop a sense of self from self reference. Today, more than two thousand years after heraclitus wrote those words, science has shrunk the boundaries of the soul considerably. Strange loop is a multidisciplinary conference that brings together the developers and thinkers building tomorrows technology in fields such as emerging languages, alternative databases, concurrency, distributed systems, security, and the web. Hofstadter s first booklength journey into philosophy since godel, escher, bach. The most central and complex symbol in your brain is the one called i. And there is some new material, prompted by the untimely death of hofstadter s beloved wife in 1993. So i was just curious how it has been received by philosophers of mind, as his take on the concept of i, and what being.
Louis is a conference for software developers covering programming langs, databases, distributed systems, security, machine learning, creativity, and more. One of our greatest philosophers and scientists of the mind asks, where does the self come fromand how our selves can exist in the minds of others. A strange loop hierarchy, however, is tangled hofstadter refers to this as a heterarchy, in that there is no well. In 1993 hofstadters wife carol died suddenly of a brain tumor at only 42, leaving him with two young children to care for.
Douglas hofstadter i am a strange loop pdf i am a strange loop on free shipping on qualifying offers. Our idea of consciousness is somewhat taken for granted as we know others are conscious and babies born will become conscious somewhere in their developme. Does hofstadter explain consciousness away, or not. What is the general feeling about douglas hofstadters. Review of i am a strange loop, douglas hofstadter adam westra douglas hofstadter is an author worth reading. Mar 26, 2007 i read hofstadter s metamagical themas many years ago and was fascinated by the author s vast area of expertise. As kurt godel with his unexpected strange loops gave us a deeper and subtler vision of what mathematics is all about, so the strangeloop characterization of our essences gives us a deeper and subtler vision of what it is to be human. Nonetheless, i am a strange loopcontains many profound and unique insights on the question of who we are. Does an i exert genuine power over the particles in our brain, or is it helplessly pushed around by the laws of physics.
Is it in the patterns, puzzles, paradoxes, puns, poetry, and programming that we see throughout hofstadters work. I am a strange loop is overlywordy and jammed with a few too many analogies and painful puns, but i enjoyed the intellectual challenge. Pdf godels proof step by step from douglas hofstadter. Pdf latest sermon from the church of fundamentalist naturalism by pastor hofstadter. Read online now i am a strange loop douglas r hofstadter ebook pdf at our library. I am a strange loop scales some lofty conceptual heights, but it remains very personal, and its deeply colored by the facts of hofstadters later life. This gives the strange loop the character of quantum uncertainty. I just finished hofstadter s i am a strange loop and was thoroughly disappointed. I read douglas hofstadters new book i am a strange loop, which argues that consciousness happens spontaneously after a system of dynamic patterns is sufficiently complex. But much more could have been said in hofstadter s book in terms of relating his own ideas to others involved in mainstream philosophy of mind.
Is it strange loops and tangled hierarchies as in escher, in hofstadters own forthcoming book, i am a strange loop, and elsewhere. One of our greatest philosophers and scientists of the mind. Douglas hodstadter i am a strage loop, perseus books. Pulitzerprize winner douglas hofstadter takes on some weighty and wonderful questions in i am a strange loop among 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. I am a strange loop is a work of rigorous thinking. I find hofstadters concept of strange loop and how it explains consciousness to be very compelling however i find the writing style in goedel escher and bach to be too distracting and i am a strange loop to be too geewhiz popsciency. His new book, as brilliant and provocative as earlier ones, is a colorful mix of speculations with passages of autobiography.
Hofstadters essential claim is that the ego is a strange loop in the mind, and by strange loop he means a feedback loop or pattern that reflects on itself. 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. 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. Dec, 2019 i am a strange loop is vintage hofstadter. Douglas richard hofstadter born february 15, 1945 in new york, new york is an american academic. You would not find the boundaries of the soul no matter how many paths you traveled, so deep is its measure. He is probably best known for his book godel, escher, bach. Bloomberg news i am a strange loop is vintage hofstadter. Compulsively readable and endlessly thoughtprovoking, this is a moving and. Aug 26, 2019 douglas hofstadter i am a strange loop pdf i am a strange loop on free shipping on qualifying offers. Most of i am a strange loop is recycled from douglas hofstadter s previous books, especially goedel escher bach or geb, to its friends. In the end, we are selfperceiving, selfinventing, lockedin mirages that are little miracles of selfreference. This posting will discuss the views of douglas hofstadter who is professor of computer science and cognitive science at indiana university. Can self, soul, consciousness, i arise out of mere matter.
Hofstadters longawaited return to the themes of godel, escher. I am a strange loop by douglas hofstadter scott oreilly loops the loop with douglas hofstadter. It never crosses hofstadters mind that both strange and loop are out of. I read godel escher bach as a teenager, i dont think this work is his best, because while it is fine as literature, the main theorem is mystified rather than explained, and the main thesis is murky and isnt so deep when unraveled. Douglas hofstadters i am a strange loop on the self. A tangled hierarchy is a hierarchical consciousness system in which a strange loop appears.
Strange loops may involve selfreference and paradox. Pdf download i am a strange loop free unquote books. Apr 08, 2018 please consider supporting my videos on patreon. Download pdf i am a strange loop free usakochan pdf. Nonetheless, i am a strange loop contains many profound and unique insights on the question of who we are. Hofstadters new book, as brilliant and provocative as earlier ones, is a. Strangely wrongi must suggest something blasphemously arrogant. Hofstadter approaches the mind from the perspective of the computer sciences, in that there are both hardware and software aspects of human intelligence. I would also claim that hofstadters equating consciousness, the i, and the ego as all one equivalent thing is nothing more than an assertion.
Douglas richard hofstadter born february 15, 1945 is an american scholar of cognitive science, physics, and comparative literature whose research includes concepts such as the sense of self in relation to the external world, consciousness, analogymaking, artistic creation, literary translation, and discovery in mathematics and physics. The concept of a strange loop was originally developed in his 1979 book godel, escher, bach in the end, we are selfperceiving, selfinventing, lockedin mirages that are little miracles of selfreference. Hofstadters longawaited return to the themes of godel, escher, bachan original and controversial view of the nature of consciousness and. He also states that the book is in part for philosophers of mind. Douglas hodstadter i am a strage loop, perseus books, 2007, pg. Delaware county district library ohio scanned in china. Get i am a strange loop douglas r hofstadter pdf file for free from our online library pdf file. Review of i am a strange loop by douglas hofstadter 2007.
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