Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize
A metaphorical fugue on minds and machines in the spirit of Lewis Carroll
Douglas Hofstadter's book is concerned directly with the nature of "maps" or links between formal systems. However, according to Hofstadter, the formal system that underlies all mental activity transcends the system that supports it. If life can grow out of the formal chemical substrate of the cell, if consciousness can emerge out of a formal system of firing neurons, then so too will computers attain human intelligence. Gödel, Escher, Bach is a wonderful exploration of fascinating ideas at the heart of cognitive science: meaning, reduction, recursion, and much more.
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Community Reviews
This is one of my all time favorites. I reread it every few years. One measure of it's place in my life is that I have a long list of books which I have read due to interest sparked by something I found in Godel, Escher, Bach.
I didn't really read this book despite it being in my "read" shelf (I couldn't figure out how to revise this part of the tags).
I tried, I truly did. I picked up this book years ago after an on-line friend whole-heartedly recommended it. No...he didn't really recommend it as much as he gushed about it. So, I bought thisbrick book and dove in with high hopes.
Ugh. What a bunch of pretentious bullshit.
Translation: I have no idea what the hell is going on. Because this book is so pretentious.
I cannot fathom actually enjoying this drivel, but, hey - different stroke for different folks, right?
I tried, I truly did. I picked up this book years ago after an on-line friend whole-heartedly recommended it. No...he didn't really recommend it as much as he gushed about it. So, I bought this
Ugh. What a bunch of pretentious bullshit.
Translation: I have no idea what the hell is going on. Because this book is so pretentious.
I cannot fathom actually enjoying this drivel, but, hey - different stroke for different folks, right?
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