Douglas hofstadter is college of arts and sciences professor of cognitive science and computer science at indiana university, bloomington. 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. Metamagical themas by douglas r hofstadter alibris. Not only is metamagical themas a great source and resource in itself, but it will lead you to other fascinating books to wit books that deal not only with science but with literature and music. I owe hofstadter a debt of gratitude for providing me with his wonderful introduction to the. A person paper on purity in language william satire alias douglas r. 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. Hofstadter is college professor of cognitive science and computer science at indiana university, bloomington, indiana. Excerpts from douglas hofstadters metamagical themas a collection mostly of articles he wrote for scientific american. The texts range from early philosophical and fictional musings on a subject that could seemingly only be examined. An excellent complement to richard dawkins books on evolution. He is the author of several highly regarded books, including godel, escher, bach and fluid concepts and creative analogies.
Douglas hofstadter person paper on purity in language. I owe hofstadter a debt of gratitude for providing me with his wonderful introduction to the works of allen wheelis. Hofstadter trivia about metamagical thema sep 12, michelle rated it it was amazing shelves. The volume is substantial in size and contains extensive notes concerning responses to the articles and other information relevant to their content.
Classic puzzles, paradoxes, and problems whether discussing hexaflexagons or number theory, klein bottles or the essence of. An interlocked collection of literary, scientific, and artistic studies. Trivia about metamagical thema sep 12, michelle rated it it was amazing shelves. If there is a single theme or thema connecting the mass of science and art in this book, it is the question of the nature of creativity. It consists of a collection of his columns from scientific american which were written under the same title, alternating with postscripts which expand on the columns and link them together. Not only is metamagical themas a great source and resource in itself, but it will lead you to other fascinating booksto wit books that deal not only with science but with literature and music. Hofstadter 1985, hardcover at the best online prices at ebay. 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 popular science writers douglas r. Great books in computer sciences florida institute of. Hofstadter, metamagical themas questing for the essence of mind and pattern philpapers. Unfortunately this is coming off more negative than i would like, and this is. The texts range from early philosophical and fictional musings on a subject that could seemingly only be examined in the realm of thought, to works from the twentieth.
Many of our most successful blacks were once tomwhiteys and feel no shame about it. Hofstadter s strange loop metaphysics attempts to map consciousness onto selfreference, but is a minority position in philosophy of mind. There are essays in hofstadters collection metamagical themas that expand significantly on his idea of what metaphors and analogies actually are and what he thinks theyre capable of doing. The texts range from early philosophical and fictional musings on a subject that could seemingly only be. Metamagical themas standard by howard dicus april 18, 2018 no comments. Hofstadter and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Metamagical themas goodreads meet your next favorite book. Metamagical themas questing for the essence of mind and pattern.
Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Jul 05, 2018 i think metamagical themes and the fluid concepts and analogies are his best books although gep had the largest impact on me. Questing for the essence of mind and pattern by hofstadter, douglas r. 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. 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. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read. Hofstadters collection of quirky essays is unified by its prima. I first read this book when i was a nerdy high school student. 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. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read i am a strange loop. Aug 15, 2001 metamagical themas covers the following topics, among others. So a strange loop is not a necessary condition for consciousness. In response to confusion over the books theme, hofstadter emphasized that godel, escher, bach is not about the. I find it more challenging than frustrating to read books that lie, in whole or in part, beyond my easy understanding.
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. Bloomberg news i am a strange loop is vintage hofstadter. 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. 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. Metamagical themas quotes showing 16 of 6 it turns out that an eerie type of chaos can lurk just behind a facade of order and yet, deep inside the chaos lurks an even eerier type of order. 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. The anthology was published in 1985 by basic books.
Metamagical themas, the mind s i, fluid concepts and creative. Hofstadter s collection of quirky essays is unified by its primary concern. He is the author of several highly regarded books, including goedel, escher, bach and fluid concepts and creative analogies. Hofstadter directs the centre for research on concepts and cognition at indiana university, and is the college of arts and sciences professor of cognitive science and computer science. Selfreferential sentences simple ones like this sentence contains five words, paradoxical ones like this sentence is false, selfdocumenting sentences which tally how many of each letter of the alphabet they contain, and a story composed entirely of selfreferential sentences. Hofstadter chose the title metamagical themas for his column because it is an anagram of mathematical. The minds i stanislaw lem wiki fandom powered by wikia. Theres a great mixture of clarity and creativity in all of these. The texts range from early philosophical and fictional musings on a subject that could seemingly only be examined in the realm of thought, to works from. Geniuses, perhaps, dont run into this problem, but i consider myself not a genius but a reasonably intelligent person trying hard to. I am a strange loop is thoughtful, amusing and infectiously enthusiastic. Metamagical themas is an eclectic collection of articles that douglas hofstadter wrote for the popular science magazine scientific american during the early 1980s.
Questing for the essence of mind and pattern by hofstadter, douglas and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Unfortunately this is coming off more negative than i would like, and this is due to my mood concerning it at the finish. Questing for the essence of mind and pattern the shirtmaking workbook. This book by douglas hofstadter is subtitled questing for the essence of mind and pattern. Doug hofstadter 1945 is a thinker, smarter than most people and way smarter than i, who writes engagingly on logic, language, fractals, fugues and anything else that captures his attention. The prisoners dilemma, computer tournaments and the. Isbn 0465026567 a new preface by the author, but otherwise is a facsimile of the original edition, with the exact same 777 pages hofstadter. The prisoners dilemma, computer tournaments and the evolution of cooperation may, 1983 life is filled with paradoxes and dilemmas. Buy metamagical themas first printing by hofstadter isbn. The value of hofstaders life work is his single minded exploration of one of the hardest problems in cognitive science. His other books include the pulitzer prizewinning godel, escher, bach. 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. But please do, you are a genius, and it is a waste to fritter away your talent writing books like this.
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