And indeed, it is impossible to come away from this book without having introduced elements of. Douglas hofstadter is a distinguished professor of cognitive science and comparative literature at indiana university. Hofstadter felt a need to write a new book because so many people misperceived geb as a hodgepodge of neat things with no central theme. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Where he describes this selfreferential mechanism as what describes the unique property of minds. If you need epub and mobi version, please send me a message click message us icon at the right corner. Bloomberg newsi am a strange loop is vintage hofstadter. I am a strange loop by douglas hofstadter issue 78. There isnt any loop in my brain that is a copy however imperfect of my wife or childrens identity, only modifications of my own that represent them. Piano music by douglas hofstadter audio cd isbn 1576771431, 2000 hofstadter, douglas r.
This seems to me to be a satisfying, although not necessarily complete, analysis of the strage of human consciousness in a material universe. Pixels make up the picture, but our interest is in the image, the tunnel of rectangles. Douglas hofstadter project gutenberg selfpublishing. I am a strange loop by douglas hofstadter abebooks. 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. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. I am a strange loop is thoughtful, amusing and infectiously enthusiastic. There is much here and i do not doubt that writing i am a strange loop was a labor of love in more ways than one. So a strange loop is not a necessary condition for consciousness. 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. Read online now i am a strange loop douglas r hofstadter ebook pdf at our library. I am a strange loop king county library system overdrive. Douglas r hofstadter argues that the key to understanding ourselves and consciousness is the strange loop, a special kind. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read i am a strange loop.
In the end, we are selfperceiving, selfinventing, lockedin mirages that are little miracles of selfreference. If you want to read a far more disciplined analysis of consciousness, i can strongly recommend the works of hofstadters friends, david chalmers and especially daniel dennett. Actually, he has written a much more thorough and comprehensible book than i could, and in such a friendly and personal way that i feel i could call him doug. To describe such selfreferencing objects, hofstadter coins the term strange loopa concept he examines in more depth in his followup book i am a strange loop. I am a strange loop argues that the key to understanding selves and consciousness is the strange loopa.
Douglas hofstadter in his book i am a strange loop coined this idea. The most central and complex symbol in your brain is the one called i. I am a strange loop by douglas hofstadter 9780465030798. Huge credit to david szakaly for his visual representation of a strange loop. Scott oreilly loops the loop with douglas hofstadter. Bloomberg news i am a strange loop is vintage hofstadter. Buy i am a strange loop book online at low prices in india. I am a strange loop is a work of rigorous thinking. Compulsively readable and endlessly thoughtprovoking, this is the book hofstadters many readers have long been waiting for. In 1993 hofstadters wife carol died suddenly of a brain tumor at only 42, leaving him with two young children to care for. One of our greatest philosophers and scientists of the mind asks, where does the self come fromand how our selves can. Hofstadters first booklength journey into philosophy since godel, escher, bach.
Today, more than two thousand years after heraclitus wrote those words, science has shrunk the boundaries of the soul considerably. For new customer, we need process for verification from 30 mins to 12 hours version. Point a video camera at a tv displaying the cameras output, and you will produce a receding corridor of screens. An eternal golden braid, also known as geb, is a 1979 book by douglas hofstadter. These are the mysteries tackled in i am a strange loop, douglas hofstadter s first booklength journey into philosophy since godel, escher, bach. His previous books include godel, escher, fluid concepts and creative analogies, and bach, which won the pulitzer prize for general nonfiction in 1980. One of our greatest philosophers and scientists of the mind. No one knew what it was, but molly wasnt able to understand language or to speak nor is she to this day, and we never did find. 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. You would not find the boundaries of the soul no matter how many paths you traveled, so deep is its measure.
These are the mysteries tackled in i am a strange loop, douglas hofstadters first booklength journey into philosophy since godel, escher, bach. His new book, as brilliant and provocative as earlier ones, is a colorful mix of speculations with passages of autobiography. Hofstadter and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Get i am a strange loop douglas r hofstadter pdf file for free from our online library pdf file. 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. Twentyeight years ago, douglas hofstadter published a book titled goedel, escher, bach that earned him instant academic renown and a cultlike following. 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. Does an i exert genuine power over the particles in our brain, or is it helplessly pushed around by the laws of physics. Like if one keeps climbing upward in the chain of command within the brain, one finds at the very top those overall organizational forces and dynamic properties of the large patterns of cerebral excitation that are correlated with mental states or. I am a strange loop get book i am a strange loop read pdf i am a strange loop authored by douglas r. Click download or read online button to get goedel escher bach book now. Bloomberg news 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. These are the mysteries tackled in i am a strange loop, douglas r. If you want to read a far more disciplined analysis of consciousness, i can strongly recommend the works of hofstadter s friends, david chalmers and especially daniel dennett.
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