These are the mysteries tackled in i am a strange loop, douglas hofstadters first booklength journey into philosophy since goedel, escher, bach. The marble provides the central theme of i am a strange loop. 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. Indeed, we can illustrate the basic idea of a relational pattern using an. I mean, am i really just a tool of hofstadter however benevolent he is, or am i genuinely exerting my own free will here as i feel i am doing. 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. A more accurate, if admittedly less wieldy title for douglas hofstadters book about the phenomenon of consciousness would be ones i is a strange loop. Brief autobiographical statement by douglas hofstadter. Today, more than two thousand years after heraclitus wrote those words, science has shrunk the boundaries of the soul considerably. Hofstadter pdf i am a strange loop douglas r hofstadter are a good way to achieve details about operating. Douglas hofstadter am strange loop pdf i am a strange loop is vintage hofstadter. Available on kindle ebook and can be read on any device with the free kindle app. Douglas hofstadter born 1945 is a computer scientist and author.
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. Legitimacy of basis from a corporations own stock, 9 am. All content included on our site, such as text, images, digital downloads and other, is the property of its content suppliers and protected by us and international laws. These are the mysteries tackled in i am a strange loop, douglas r. The interview was conducted by tal cohen and yarden. And indeed, it is impossible to come away from this.
The most recent, published this year by basic, is douglas. Tropes of entanglement and strange loops in the nine. Followers of douglas hofstadter s journey into consciousness and self will enjoy his long awaited return to these themes in i am a strange loop, his most recent book on philosophy since the pulitzer prize winning godel, escher, bach breaking new ground in his exploration of the abstract concept of i, i am a strange loop tackles a number of. As in his other books, hofstadter has written a deeply. Although we believe that analogy is indeed a central component of human cognition, it is not quite the exclusive province of our species. The i in the title refers to the concept of the i in all of us. The idea of i am a strange loop is that we develop a sense of self from self reference. Compulsively readable and endlessly thoughtprovoking, this is the book hofstadters many readers have long been waiting for.
What is a strange loop and what is it like to be one. Ok, i finished hofstatders book months ago and i have been pondering his ideas. I am a strange loop by douglas hofstadter abebooks. I am a strange loop is thoughtful, amusing and infectiously enthusiastic. Douglas hofstadter born february 15, 1945 is a mathematician, cognitive scientist, and pulitzer prize winning author quotes. The prisoners dilemma, computer tournaments and the evolution of cooperation may, 1983 life is filled with paradoxes and dilemmas. Excerpts from douglas hofstadters metamagical themas a collection mostly of articles he wrote for scientific american. I am a strange loop by douglas hofstadter issue 78. It is carelessly, clumsily, hastily written, plodding, and filled with unsubstantiated statements and assumptions, ignorant distortions and outright errors as well as being nasty in places when it comes to the authors opinions of ideas that he cannot claim for himself. So, a mirage that only exists because it perceives itself. In his latest book, i am a strange loop, he visits once again many of the themes originally presented in that book.
Hofstadter, a noted author, cognitive scientist and proud stanford son, returns to stanford in february, 2006, with a lecture called analogy as the core of cognition. What is the central thesis of douglas hofstadters book i. A lecture apropos of douglas hofstadters i am a strange loop lecture. Read download i am a strange loop pdf pdf download. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. I am a strange loop by douglas hofstadter scott oreilly loops the loop with douglas hofstadter. I am a strange loop should not be taken to mean douglas hofstadter is a strange loop. I have an interesting perspective on this title because the book i read just before it was the new earth by eckhart tolle, a book grounded in zen buddhist philosophy. I am a strange loop, by douglas hofstadter the independent.
Scott oreilly loops the loop with douglas hofstadter. An original, endlessly thoughtprovoking, and controversial look at the nature of consciousness and identity argues that the key to understanding selves and consciousness is the strange loop, a special kind of abstract feedback loop inhabiting our brains. 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. Strangely wrongi must suggest something blasphemously arrogant. You would not find the boundaries of the soul no matter how many paths you traveled, so deep is its measure. Pdf strange loops and a cognitive approach to genre. His latest book i am a strange loop asks many more challenging questions. Tolle declares that the ego or thinking mind is the cause of all the poisons of our civilization and the only hope for us as a species is to embrace awareness and presence and escape the thinking mind that feeds our needs for.
In 1950, our family moved to stanford, california, where i grew up. For douglas hofstadters own examples of strange loops in the law, see hof stadter. Douglas hofstadter s i am a strange loop on the self sep 18, toc rated it liked it recommends it for. You would not find the boundaries of the soul no matter how many paths you traveled, so deep is its.
Hofstadter douglas hofstadters book is concerned directly with the nature of maps or links between formal systems. By analogy by douglas hofstadter, kevin kelly longform. Brief autobiographical statement by douglas hofstadter december, 2014 i was born in manhattan in 1945, and spent the years 19471950 with my parents in princeton, new jersey. Bloomberg news i am a strange loop is vintage hofstadter. Buy a cheap copy of i am a strange loop book by douglas r.
Hofstadters first booklength journey into philosophy since godel, escher, bach. Hofstadter is college of arts and sciences professor of cognitive science, and director of the center for research on concepts and cognition, at indiana university. 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. And beyond this, the postscript to chapter 16 should be unnecessary if he knew that his argumentation were solid. It is a strange loop generated by a myriad of lesser loops. 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. The interview below was conducted in september 2007 and was originally published, in hebrew, in the online culture magazine haayal hakore. Compulsively readable and endlessly thoughtprovoking, this is a moving and profound inquiry into the nature of mind.
Douglas hofstadter lecture at the citadel january 27 2015. He has won a pulitzer prize sourced quotes which statement seems more true. It is a minute portion of the universe, a glob of dead matter within our skull, not only observing itself, but aware it is observing itself. Wall street journal i am a strange loop scales some lofty conceptual heights, but it remains very personal, and its deeply colored by. Pulitzerprize winner douglas hofstadter takes on some weighty and wonderful questions in i am a strange loopamong. I am a strange loop by douglas hofstadter issue 78 philosophy.
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