However, i am a strange loop is a much more personal effort, an intellectual autobiography time of the last 30 years of hofstadters life. At 848 pages, eleanor cattons novel the luminaries, is a whole lot of strange if you think gold mining in 1860s new zealand is a strange premise for. So whether theres something just a little different about the story, or the book is fullon bizarre, here are 100 wonderful weird books i have. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. The i is the nexus in our brain, one of many symbols seeming to have free will and to have. Compulsively readable and endlessly thoughtprovoking, this is the book hofstadters many readers have been waiting for.
These are the mysteries tackled in i am a strange loop, douglas hofstadters first booklength journey into philosophy since godel, escher, bach. I am a strange loop argues that the key to understanding selves and consciousness is the strange loopa special kind of abstract feedback loop inhabiting our. I am a strange loop king county library system overdrive. 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.
We use language in organisations to allocate person position in the ways we use the words i. Strange loop was created in 2009 by software developer alex miller and is now run by a team. May 19, 2017 at 848 pages, eleanor cattons novel the luminaries, is a whole lot of strange if you think gold mining in 1860s new zealand is a strange premise for a novel, that is. I am a strange loop by douglas hofstadter 2007 continuing our lifelong conversation with hofstadters brain, we learn how the professor proved the statement made by achilles in a conversation with einsteins brain, i. One of our greatest philosophers and scientists of the mind asks, where does the self come fromand how our selves can exist in. Pwlconf 2020 is a fullday papers we love conference, colocated with strange loop in saint louis, missouri on oct 1st. Almost thirty years after the publication of his wellloved godel, escher, bach, hofstadter revisits. Bloomberg news i am a strange loop is vintage hofstadter. 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. 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. 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. Please help to improve it, or discuss the issue on the talk page.
His new book, as brilliant and provocative as earlier ones, is a colorful mix of speculations with passages of autobiography. The most central and complex symbol in your brain or mine is the one called i. The concept of a strange loop was originally developed in his 1979 book godel, escher, bach. Critics agreed that hofstadter is riveting when sharing his grief over the unexpected death of his wife and his conviction that part of her continues to live on in him.
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. Deep down, a human brain is a chaotic seething soup of particles, on a higher level it is a jungle of neurons, and on a yet higher level it is a network of abstractions that we. Strange loops may involve selfreference and paradox. I am a strange loop audiobook, by douglas hofstadter. A tangled hierarchy is a hierarchical system in which a strange loop appears. Wall street journal 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. In i am a strange loop, hofstadter, a cognitive and computer scientist at indiana university, describes a more elaborate experiment with video. Mar 26, 2007 i am a strange loop should not be taken to mean douglas hofstadter is 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. You would not find the boundaries of the soul no matter how many paths you traveled, so deep is its measure. All content included on our site, such as text, images, digital downloads and other, is the property of its content suppliers and protected by. 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. Review of hofstadter, douglas r i am a strange loop. A tangled hierarchy is a hierarchical consciousness system in which a strange loop appears. And indeed, it is impossible to come away from this book without having introduced elements of. By moving through this cycle one finds oneself where one originally started. I am a strange loop is overlywordy and jammed with a few too many analogies and painful puns, but i enjoyed the intellectual challenge. The i in the title refers to the concept of the i in all of us. Compulsively readable and endlessly thoughtprovoking, this is a moving and profound inquiry into the nature of mind. Today, more than two thousand years after heraclitus wrote those words, science has shrunk the boundaries of the soul considerably. Has hofstadters concept of strange loop been given a more. Compulsively readable and endlessly thoughtprovoking, this is the book hofstadters many.
It begins with peter, a devoted man of faith, as he is called to the mission of a lifetime, one that takes him galaxies away from his wife, bea. I am a strange loop argues that the key to understanding selves and consciousness is the strange loopa special kind of abstract feedback loop inhabiting our brains. 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. Souls and their sizes one problem which has to be faced with anyone looking at the nature of human awareness, no matter what philosophy of mind they prefer, is what other entities can be thought of as possessing such awareness. A new journey into hofstadters mind scientific american. I am a strange loop by douglas hofstadter scott oreilly loops the loop with douglas hofstadter. Click download or read online button to get i am a strange l oop book now. Mar 27, 2007 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.
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. In i am a strange loop he gives a more direct explanation of this link. 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. The strange loop is a cyclic system that traverses several layers in a hierarchy.
I am a strange loop download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi. Apr 11, 2016 i love strange and weird books, mostly because i, myself, am strange and unusual. I am a strange loop by douglas hofstadter issue 78. The most central and complex symbol in your brain is the one called i. Okay, you got me i wrote this list just so i could quote beetlejuice. One of our greatest philosophers and scientists of the mind asks, where. The strange loops explain much of what i experienced and when i combine the information from this video with your what is god parts 1 and 2, im able to re. 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. In 1993 hofstadters wife carol died suddenly of a brain tumor at only 42, leaving him with two young children to care for. Coincidentally enough, this strange loop is in fact is the fundamental reason for what yann lecun describes as the coolest idea in machine learning in the last twenty years. Jul 08, 2008 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. A monumental, genredefying novel that david mitchell calls michel fabers second masterpiece, the book of strange new things is a masterwork from a writer in full command of his many talents. I am a strange loop should not be taken to mean douglas hofstadter is a strange loop. New york, ny, 2007 isbn 0465030785 pb order this book.
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. Oct 19, 2015 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. I love strange and weird books, mostly because i, myself, am strange and unusual. The book of strange new things by michel faber overdrive. I am a product of my environment, my environment is a product of me, i am a product of my environment, my env you get the point.
Can a self, a soul, a consciousness, an i arise out of mere matter. 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. The i is the nexus in our brain, one of many symbols seeming to have free will and to have gained the. I am a strange loop by doug joyce on november 28, 2017 1. Dec 04, 2017 the strange loops explain much of what i experienced and when i combine the information from this video with your what is god parts 1 and 2, im able to recontextualize thanks for that video too the whole experience into a much richer revelation. I am the mason and i am the stone believe that the silverware will bend i am the knowing and i am. Strange loop workshops are selected from an open call for presentations. I am a strange loop by douglas hofstadter on the nature of human consciousness and its relation to empathy. These are the mysteries tackled in i am a strange loop, douglas r. A strange loop arises when, by moving only upwards or downwards through a hierarchical system, one finds oneself back where one started strange loops may involve selfreference and paradox. Doug hofstadters latest book, i am a strange loop, is partly a reworking of and partly a sequel to his celebrated godel, escher and bach published back in 1979. Perhaps a certain abstract type of lockedin loop inside the careenium or the cranium, perhaps a shimmering rainbowlike entity that first recedes and then disintegrates entirely as one draws ever closer, perhaps just little miracles of selfreference. In the end, we are selfperceiving, selfinventing, lockedin mirages that are little miracles of selfreference.