Douglas richard hofstadter is an american scholar of cognitive science, physics, and comparative literature whose research focuses on consciousness, thinking and creativity. Questing for the essence of mind and pattern douglas hofstadter 17 william hurt 1989 did i tell you how lucky you are. An exlibrary book and may have standard library stamps andor stickers. Classic puzzles, paradoxes, and problems whether discussing hexaflexagons or number theory, klein bottles or the essence of nothing, martin gardner has singlehandedly created the field of recreational mathemat. In the mid80s, while reading through my roommates collection of scientific american back issues, i encountered this introduction to lisp written by douglas hofstadter. A person paper on purity in language william satire alias douglas r.
The prisoners dilemma, computer tournaments and the. The books chapters are each made up of a previously published work by authors such as jorge luis borges, alan turing, richard dawkins, raymond smullyan, john searle, stanislaw lem, thomas nagel as well as hofstadter and dennett themselves, each followed up by a commentary by hofstadter andor dennett. The best passage ever, is the one that i have waited all along my reading, the recursive definition of superrational players. Jan 19, 2020 sep 15, thomas rated it it was amazing shelves.
This book by douglas hofstadter is subtitled questing for the essence of mind and pattern. Douglas hofstadter person paper on purity in language. Indeed, when you start to think seriously about hofstadters theory, it falls to pieces. Compulsively listenable and endlessly thoughtprovoking, this is a moving and profound inquiry into the nature of mind. They believe that perception is a key part of cognition, that analogy is a key component of perception, and that ai cognition research programmes that start from preperceived data input are missing the. Seuss 18 billy dee williams 1989 song of solomon toni morrison 19 bo jackson 1990 the old man and the sea ernest hemingway. And indeed, it is impossible to come away from this book without having introduced elements of. The wordplay was lost in the french title, and replaced with another one ma themagie would translate to my themagy, where themagy is a neologism, but. On december 9, c alifornia senator dianne feinstein made public a page report by the. Fantasies and reflections on self and soul is a 1981 collection of essays and other texts about the nature of the mind and the self, edited with commentary by philosophers douglas r. Excerpts from douglas hofstadters metamagical themas a collection mostly of articles he wrote for scientific american.
Hofstadter s collection of quirky essays is unified by its primary concern. Thus, analogy is the mechanism that, silently and hidden, chooses our words and phrases for us when we speak, frames how we understand the most. Hofstadter is a computer expert in the field of artificial intelligence. The title of the book says that consciousness is tied to selfrepresentation, the levelbreaking recursion that happens in the proof of godels theorem. Metamagical themas by douglas r hofstadter alibris. Hofstadter, 9780465045662, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide.
An eternal golden braid, first published in 1979, won both the pulitzer prize for general nonfiction and a national book award at that time called the american book award for science. And indeed, it is impossible to come away from this. Douglass hofstadter expounds this idea at great length in a series of scientific american articles, reprinted in his collection. Its a nice theory, but hofstadter leaves it as a tantalising possibility, rather than giving any detail. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read.
Compulsively readable and endlessly thoughtprovoking, this is a moving and profound inquiry into the nature of mind. This book is a compilation of those columns, each with a new endnote by hofstadter and some letters received by the magazine and his reply. In which a discourse on the language lisp concludes with a gargantuan italian feast. Metamagical themas was also published in french, under the title ma themagie intereditions, 1988, the translators being jeanbaptiste berthelin, jeanluc bonnetain, and lise rosenbaum. These are the mysteries tackled in i am a strange loop, douglas hofstadters first booklength journey into philosophy since godel, escher, bach. His scariest insights and most agonizing intellectual probings are graced, like hamlets, with humor, affection, and a kind of mad musical. Compulsively readable and endlessly thoughtprovoking, this is the book hofstadters many readers have long been waiting for. Questing for the essence of mind and pattern new ed by hofstadter, douglas isbn. To some people perhaps to most, perhaps even us all the ineffable sense of being an i or a first person, the intuitive sense of being there or simply existing, the powerful sense of having experience and of having raw sensations what some philosophers refer to as qualia, seem to be the realist things in thei8r lives, and an insistent inner. Questing for the essence of mind and pattern by douglas hofstadter. And 2 it inspired me write my own book about game theory. Hofstadter 1986, paperback at the best online prices at ebay. Hofstadter chose the title metamagical themas for his column because it is an anagram of mathematical.
Being a collection of articles, that book is much more accessible. This dismal discipline, which emanates from the bertrand russellkarl korsch networks, has been used. Tbdm is more anecdotal, reflective and contemplative, and i didnt feel i came away with my paradigms quite so severely shifted. In 1981 he gradually took over martin gardners column in scientific american, mathematical games, which he renamed metamagical themas, an anagram the same letters arranged in a new order of the original title. The prisoners dilemma, computer tournaments and the evolution of cooperation may, 1983 life is filled with paradoxes and dilemmas. Questing for the essence of mind and pattern by douglas r. Jul 08, 2008 these are the mysteries tackled in i am a strange loop, douglas hofstadters first booklength journey into philosophy since godel, escher, bach. Hofstadters law, which specifies that it always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account hofstadters law is an example of a. Aug 15, 2001 metamagical themas covers the following topics, among others. These are the mysteries tackled in i am a strange loop, douglas r. Buy metamagical themas by douglas r hofstadter online at alibris. I believe the idea, at least in its mathematically precise form, is. Hofstadter s first book length journey into philosophy since godel, escher, bach. Metamagial out words and replace them with improved approximations.
This book is a compilation of those columns, each with a new endnote by hofstadter and some letters received by the magazine and. I am a strange loop is thoughtful, amusing and infectiously enthusiastic. In the essence of thought, hofstadter and sander show how analogymaking pervades our thought at all levelsindeed, that we make analogies not once a day or once an hour, but many times per second. He is the author of several highly regarded books, including godel, escher, bach and fluid concepts and creative analogies. Questing for the essence of mind and pattern by hofstadter, douglas and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Metamagical themas, one of which is dilemmas for superrational thinkers, leading up to a luring lottery scientific american, june 1983. So my metamagical themas will, in gardnerian fashion, attempt to show that magic often lurks where few suspect it, and by the opposite token, magic seldom lurks where many suspect it. The anthology was published in 1985 by basic books the volume is substantial in size and contains extensive notes concerning responses to the articles and other information relevant to their content. His column, that occupied the same place as mathemetical games, was called metamagical themas looking closely at those two names will tell you a lot about douglas hofstadter and lasted for issues. Highly recommended for a ride into an forest of bizarre thoughts from a brillant thinker.
The book of the same name, published in 1985, collects the columns he wrote for the magazine. Hofstadter directs the center for research on concepts and cognition at indiana university, and is the college of arts and sciences professor of cognitive science and computer science. Jul 05, 2018 for me this book was a companion to metamagical themas, a collection of hofstadters scientific american articles. Metamagical themas douglas hofstadter doug hofstadter is rapidly becoming the hamlet of our times. Mathemetical games, was called metamagical themas looking closely at those two names will tell you a lot about douglas hofstadter and lasted for issues. Bloomberg news i am a strange loop is vintage hofstadter. Compulsively readable and endlessly thoughtprovoking, this is the book hofstadter s many readers have long been waiting for. Hofstadters first booklength journey into philosophy since godel, escher, bach.
Hofstadter thinks tbdm is the best book hes ever written. Personally, i would have to disagree i still reserve that place for geb, which i found a sheer mindblowing experience. Metamagical themas goodreads meet your next favorite book. Questing for the essence of mind and pattern paperback douglas hofstadter author. Metamagical themas is a collection of eclectic articles written for scientific american during the early 1980s by douglas hofstadter, and published together as a book in 1985 by basic books isbn 0465045669 the subject matter of the articles is loosely woven about themes in philosophy, creativity, artificial intelligence, typography and fonts, and important social issues. Publication date 1985 usage attributionnoncommercialno derivative works 3. Hofstadters many interests metxmagical music, visual art, the mind, creativity, consciousness, selfreference, translation and mathematics. Douglas hofstadter and his research group, farg, have a particular approach to modelling human thought processes, and this book collects together some of their work over the last two decades. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read i am a strange loop.
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