What is the mind?, Who am I?, Can Machines think?
A book that is a series of essays and studies on consciousness and what does it mean when I talk about I. Written as a series of self contained chapters that make it ideal to dip in and out of.
Includes the famous essay on What is it like to be a bat and reflections on the interpretation of said essay., amongst many others.
Despite it's age, a fine book and a good introduction to questions of philosophy and consciousness.
Sunday, 1 June 1986
Godel, Escher, Bach: An eternal Golden Braid
A book I read many years ago but that started me off on my journey of discovery about consciousness and philosophy. First published in 1979 but still as fresh and relevant today.
Douglas Hofstadter attempts to explore how consciouness can arise in inanimate matter (our brains). Written in the style of Lewis Carol there are actually three books entwined within each other.
Godel: who wrote on the theorem of incompleteness of any logically consistent mathematical system and explored such paradoxes as the liars paraodx - "This statement is false"
Escher: who drew wonderfull self-referential etchings
Bach: who investigated canons and fugues (tunes that are played against themsleves such as three blind mice)
Throughout the book he explores strange loops - where successive jumps up (or down) heirarchical levels eventually bring you back to what appears to be where you started.
If all this doesn't make your head hurt but rather piques your interest then I strongly urge you to read the book, after all it could be the start of a wonderful journey down a rabbit hole from which you might (or might not) reappear.
Note: I own an earlier edition of this book
Douglas Hofstadter attempts to explore how consciouness can arise in inanimate matter (our brains). Written in the style of Lewis Carol there are actually three books entwined within each other.
Godel: who wrote on the theorem of incompleteness of any logically consistent mathematical system and explored such paradoxes as the liars paraodx - "This statement is false"
Escher: who drew wonderfull self-referential etchings
Bach: who investigated canons and fugues (tunes that are played against themsleves such as three blind mice)
Throughout the book he explores strange loops - where successive jumps up (or down) heirarchical levels eventually bring you back to what appears to be where you started.
If all this doesn't make your head hurt but rather piques your interest then I strongly urge you to read the book, after all it could be the start of a wonderful journey down a rabbit hole from which you might (or might not) reappear.
Note: I own an earlier edition of this book
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