Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden BraidWinner 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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Achilles axiom Bach Bach's Bongard problem brain Buddha-nature called Chapter complete consistency Crab Canon decision procedure derivation Dialogue djinn Epimenides paradox Euclid example fact FANCY NOUN fantasy rule FIGURE formal system fugue Genie genotype geometry Gödel's Theorem Gplot idea inconsistent infinite inner message inside intelligence interpretation invented isomorphism jukebox kōan language logic look M. C. Escher mathematicians mathematics matter meaning Meta-Genie mind MIU-system monk MU-puzzle Mumon Musical Offering natural numbers non-Euclidean geometry nontheorems notion number theory outer message paradox patterns phonograph piece play postulate pq-system prime proof Propositional Calculus question reasoning record player recursive rules of inference seems sense sentence sounds statement of number Strange Loops structure suppose symbols tell theme things tion tonic Tortoise translation true variable well-formed formulas well-formed strings wish words Zeno