I Am a Strange Loop
 Cover of the first edition | |
| Author | Douglas Hofstadter |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Consciousness, strange loops, intelligence |
| Publisher | Basic Books |
Publication date | March 26, 2007 |
| Publication place | US |
| Media type | Print (hardback) |
| Pages | 412 pages |
| ISBN | 978-0-465-03078-1 |
| OCLC | 64554976 |
| LC Class | BD438.5 .H64 2007 |
| Preceded by | Gödel, Escher, Bach |
I Am a Strange Loop is a 2007 book by Douglas Hofstadter, examining in depth the concept of a strange loop to explain the sense of "I". The concept of a strange loop was originally developed in his 1979 book Gödel, Escher, Bach.
In the end, we are self-perceiving, self-inventing, locked-in mirages that are little miracles of self-reference.
— Douglas Hofstadter, I Am a Strange Loop, p. 363
Content
Hofstadter had previously expressed disappointment with how Gödel, Escher, Bach, which won the 1980 Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction, was received. In the preface to its 20th anniversary edition, he laments that the book was perceived as a hodgepodge of neat things with no central theme. He writes: "GEB is a very personal attempt to say how it is that animate beings can come out of inanimate matter. What is a self, and how can a self come out of stuff that is as selfless as a stone or a puddle?"[1]
Hofstadter seeks to remedy this problem in I Am a Strange Loop by focusing on and expounding the central message of Gödel, Escher, Bach. He demonstrates how the properties of self-referential systems, demonstrated most famously in Gödel's incompleteness theorems, can be used to describe the unique properties of minds.[2]
As an exploration of the sense of "I", Hofstadter explores his own life and those to whom he has been close.[3][4][5][6][7][8]
The book received favorable reviews. The Wall Street Journal called it "fascinating", "original", and "thought-provoking".[6]
See also
- Feedback loop
- Phenomenology (philosophy)
- Identity: in particular, the Ship of Theseus paradox
- Russell's paradox
- I think, therefore I am: similar idea from René Descartes
References
- ^ Hofstadter, Douglas R. (1999) [1979]. "Preface". Gödel, Escher, Bach. Basic Books. p. P–2. ISBN 0-465-02656-7.
- ^ Hofstadter, Douglas R. (June 11, 2008). "An Interview with Douglas R. Hofstadter, following I am a Strange Loop". Tal Cohen's Bookshelf. Interviewed by Tal Cohen.
- ^ Johnson, George (March 1, 2007). "A New Journey into Hofstadter's Mind" (Book review). Scientific American. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
- ^ Hofstadter, Douglas R. (March 2007). "Me, My Soul, and I". Wired. Interviewed by Kevin Kelly. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
- ^ Hofstadter, Douglas R. (March 22, 2007). "Author Interview". American Scientist. Interviewed by Greg Ross. Archived from the original on March 8, 2013. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
- ^ a b Derbyshire, John (March 23, 2007). "The I's Have It". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original (Book review) on October 15, 2007. Retrieved May 7, 2025 – via olimu.com.
- ^ Hofstadter, Douglas R. (April 1, 2007). "The Mind Reader". New York Times Magazine. Interviewed by Deborah Solomon. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
- ^ Gardner, Martin (August 2007). "Do Loops Explain Consciousness? Review of I Am a Strange Loop" (PDF). Notices of the American Mathematical Society. 54 (7): 853. Retrieved December 10, 2007.
| Books |
|  |
|---|---|---|
Concepts and projects | ||
| Related | ||
| ||