I Am a Strange Loop - Douglas R. Hofstadter [2]
The Radical Nature of Parfit’s Views
Self-confidence, Humility, and Self-doubt
Morphing Parfit into Bonaparte
The Radical Redesign of Douglas R. Hofstadter
On “Who” and on “How”
Double or Nothing
Trains Who Roll
The Glow of the Soular Corona
CHAPTER 22 - A Tango with Zombies and Dualism
Pedantic Semantics?
Two Machines
Two Daves
The Nagging Worry that One Might Be a Zombie
Consciousness Is Not a Power Moonroof
Liphosophy
Consciousness: A Capitalized Essence
A Sliding Scale of Élan Mental
Semantic Quibbling in Universe Z
Quibbling in Universe Q
CHAPTER 23 - Killing a Couple of Sacred Cows
A Cerulean Sardine
Bleu Blanc Rouge = Red, White, and Blue
Inverting the Sonic Spectrum
Glebbing and Knurking
The Inverted Political Spectrum
Violets Are Red, Roses Are Blue
A Scarlet Sardine
Yes, People Want Things
The Hedge Maze of Life
There’s No Such Thing as a Free Will
CHAPTER 24 - On Magnanimity and Friendship
Are There Small and Large Souls?
From the Depths to the Heights
The Magnanimity of Albert Schweitzer
Does Conscience Constitute Consciousness?
Albert Schweitzer and Johann Sebastian Bach
Dig that Profundity!
Alle Grashüpfer Müssen Sterben
Friends
EPILOGUE
NOTES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Acknowledgements
INDEX
Copyright Page
Praise for I Am A Strange Loop
“[F]ascinating . . . original and thought-provoking . . . [T]here are many pleasures in I Am a Strange Loop.”
— Wall Street Journal
“I Am a Strange Loop scales some lofty conceptual heights, but it remains very personal, and it’s deeply colored by the facts of Hofstadter’s later life. In 1993 Hofstadter’s wife Carol died suddenly of a brain tumor at only 42, leaving him with two young children to care for . . . I Am a Strange Loop is a work of rigorous thinking.”
— Time
“Almost thirty years after the publication of his well-loved Gödel, Escher, Bach, Hofstadter revisits some of the same themes. The purpose of the new book is to make inroads into the nexus of self, self-awareness and consciousness by examining self-referential structures in areas as diverse as art and mathematics. Hofstadter is the man for the job. His treatment of issues is approachable and personal, you might even say subj ective. His discussion is never overtechnical and his prose never over-bearing. He stays close to the surface of real life at all times, even as he discusses matters of the highest level of abstraction, and his book is full of fresh and rich real-life examples that give texture and authenticity to the discussion.”
— Times Literary Supplement, London
“[P]leasant and intriguing . . . Hofstadter is a supremely skillful master of an educational alchemy that can, at the turn of the page, transform the most abstract and complex of thoughts into a digestible idea that is both fun and interesting . . . Hofstadter’s good humor and easygoing style make it a real pleasure to read from start to finish.”
— Times Higher Education Supplement, London
“I Am a Strange Loop contains many profound and unique insights on the question of who we are. In addition, it is a delightful read.”
— Physics Today
“I Am a Strange Loop is vintage Hofstadter: earnest, deep, overflowing with ideas, building its argument into the experience of reading it — for if our souls can incorporate those of others, then I Am a Strange Loop can transmit Hofstadter’s into ours. And indeed, it is impossible to come away from this book without having introduced elements of his point of view into our own. It may not make us kinder or more compassionate, but we will never look at the world, inside or out, in the same way again.”
— Los Angeles Times Book Review
“Nearly thirty years after his best-selling book Gödel, Escher, Bach, cognitive scientist and polymath Douglas Hofstadter has returned to his extraordinary theory of self.”
— New Scientist
“I Am a Strange Loop is thoughtful, amusing and infectiously enthusiastic.”
— Bloomberg News
“[P]rovocative and heroically humane . . . it’s impossible not to experience this book as a tender, remarkably