Apr 08, 2018 please consider supporting my videos on patreon. Hofstadter s first booklength journey into philosophy since godel, escher, bach. In 1993 hofstadters wife carol died suddenly of a brain tumor at only 42, leaving him with two young children to care for. I am a strange loop tales from the loop hook, loop n lock. Mar 26, 2007 i read hofstadter s metamagical themas many years ago and was fascinated by the author s vast area of expertise. One of our greatest philosophers and scientists of the mind. 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. 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. 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. Strange loops of selfawareness existing on multiple levels as in godels famous proof create hallucinations of a hallucination, and so an i forms. I am a strange loop should not be taken to mean douglas hofstadter is a strange loop. You would not find the boundaries of the soul no matter how many paths you traveled, so deep is its measure.
It never crosses hofstadters mind that both strange and loop are out of. Douglas hodstadter i am a strage loop, perseus books. Douglas hodstadter i am a strage loop, perseus books, 2007. Delaware county district library ohio scanned in china.
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. Nonetheless, i am a strange loopcontains many profound and unique insights on the question of who we are. And indeed, it is impossible to come away from this book without having introduced elements of. Hofstadters longawaited return to the themes of godel, escher, bachan original and controversial view of the nature of consciousness and. Welted sheaths with snap fastener and mexican loop big loop maps, mountain bike trail map.
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. Most of i am a strange loop is recycled from douglas hofstadter s previous books, especially goedel escher bach or geb, to its friends. The concept of a strange loop was originally developed in his 1979 book godel, escher, bach. Hofstadters new book, as brilliant and provocative as earlier ones, is a. Can self, soul, consciousness, i arise out of mere matter. The most recent, published this year by basic, is douglas. 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. Dec, 2019 i am a strange loop is vintage hofstadter. Does an i exert genuine power over the particles in our brain, or is it helplessly pushed around by the laws of physics. I am a strange loop is a 2007 book by douglas hofstadter, examining in depth the concept of.
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. Today, more than two thousand years after heraclitus wrote those words, science has shrunk the boundaries of the soul considerably. Review of i am a strange loop by douglas hofstadter 2007. Aug 26, 2019 douglas hofstadter i am a strange loop pdf i am a strange loop on free shipping on qualifying offers.
Strange loops may involve selfreference and paradox. Douglas hofstadters i am a strange loop on the self. Hofstadter agrees with buddhism that the self is an illusion, but he offhandedly says striving to get past the illusion as buddhism suggests is a pointless, deadend pursuit. A tangled hierarchy is a hierarchical consciousness system in which a strange loop appears. Hofstadters longawaited return to the themes of godel, escher. So, a mirage that only exists because it perceives itself. The i in the title refers to the concept of the i in all of us. Download pdf i am a strange loop free usakochan pdf. Pdf download i am a strange loop free unquote books. This posting will discuss the views of douglas hofstadter who is professor of computer science and cognitive science at indiana university. Douglas hodstadter i am a strage loop, perseus books, 2007, pg. Has hofstadters concept of strange loop been given a more. But this is not necessarily a bad thing this actually makes it a good first book for the uninitiated. I just finished hofstadter s i am a strange loop and was thoroughly disappointed.
Does hofstadter explain consciousness away, or not. Compulsively readable and endlessly thoughtprovoking, this is a moving and profound inquiry into the nature of mind. Hofstadter approaches the mind from the perspective of the computer sciences, in that there are both hardware and software aspects of human intelligence. 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. 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. 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. 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 latest sermon from the church of fundamentalist naturalism by pastor hofstadter. Godels proof step by step from douglas hofstadters i am a strange loop. 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. Nonetheless, i am a strange loop contains many profound and unique insights on the question of who we are. Jun 19, 2019 what this story lacks is an understanding of how a unique pointofview makes the self what it is. How has hofstadters i am a strange loop been received. A strange loop hierarchy, however, is tangled hofstadter refers to this as a heterarchy, in that there is no well.
Douglas richard hofstadter born february 15, 1945 in new york, new york is an american academic. Not so fast, protests pulitzer prizewinning cognitive scientist douglas hofstadter in i am a strange loop the thoughtful companion to godel, escher, bach, his. Bloomberg news i am a strange loop is vintage hofstadter. Review i am a strange loop is thoughtful, amusing and infectiously enthusiastic.
As in his other books, hofstadter has written a deeply. Is it strange loops and tangled hierarchies as in escher, in hofstadters own forthcoming book, i am a strange loop, and elsewhere. What is the general feeling about douglas hofstadters. Douglas hofstadter am strange loop pdf i am a strange loop is vintage hofstadter. Is it in the patterns, puzzles, paradoxes, puns, poetry, and programming that we see throughout hofstadters work. Compulsively readable and endlessly thoughtprovoking, this is a moving and. 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. 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. May 10, 2007 does hofstadter explain consciousness away, or not. Pdf godels proof step by step from douglas hofstadter. I am a strange loop by douglas hofstadter issue 78. The most central and complex symbol in your brain is the one called i. 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.
Read online now i am a strange loop douglas r hofstadter ebook pdf at our library. Louis is a conference for software developers covering programming langs, databases, distributed systems, security, machine learning, creativity, and more. 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 book inspired thousands of students to begin careers in computing and artificial intelligence.
Review of i am a strange loop, douglas hofstadter adam westra douglas hofstadter is an author worth reading. Scott oreilly loops the loop with douglas hofstadter. 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. I am a strange loop is a work of rigorous thinking. Een strange loop is een structuur welke op een of andere manier door een. A strange loop is a hierarchy of levels, each of which is linked to at least one other by some type of relationship. 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. These are the mysteries tackled in i am a strange loop, douglas hofstadters first booklength journey into philosophy since godel, escher, bach. This gives the strange loop the character of quantum uncertainty. What is the central thesis of douglas hofstadters book i. I am a strange loop by douglas hofstadter scott oreilly loops the loop with douglas hofstadter. Apr 03, 2015 these are the mysteries tackled in i am a strange loop, douglas r. In the end, we are selfperceiving, selfinventing, lockedin mirages that are little miracles of selfreference. Godel s proof step by step from douglas hofstadter s i am a strange loop.
Pdf godels proof step by step from douglas hofstadters. Compulsively readable and endlessly thoughtprovoking, this is the book hofstadter s many readers have long been waiting for. 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. Douglas hofstadter i am a strange loop pdf i am a strange loop on free shipping on qualifying offers. In hofstadters wife carol died suddenly of a brain tumor at only 42, leaving i am a strange loop is vintage hofstadter. His new book, as brilliant and provocative as earlier ones, is a colorful mix of speculations with passages of autobiography. The idea of i am a strange loop is that we develop a sense of self from self reference. He also states that the book is in part for philosophers of mind. I would also claim that hofstadters equating consciousness, the i, and the ego as all one equivalent thing is nothing more than an assertion. And indeed, it is impossible to come away from this book without having introduced elements. 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. Review of i am a strange loop by douglas hofstadter 2007 michael starks.
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