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Overview
Can thought arise out of matter? Can self, soul, consciousness, “I” arise out of mere matter? If it cannot, then how can you or I be here?
I Am a Strange Loop argues that the key to understanding selves and consciousness is the “strange loop”—a special kind of abstract feedback loop inhabiting our brains. The most central and complex symbol in your brain is the one called “I.” The “I” is the nexus in our brain, one of many symbols seeming to have free will and to have gained the paradoxical ability to push particles around, rather than the reverse.
How can a mysterious abstraction be real—or is our “I” merely a convenient fiction? Does an “I” exert genuine power over the particles in our brain, or is it helplessly pushed around by the laws of physics?
These are the mysteries tackled in I Am a Strange Loop, Douglas Hofstadter’s first book-length journey into philosophy since Gödel, Escher, Bach. Compulsively readable and endlessly thought-provoking, this is a moving and profound inquiry into the nature of mind.
Synopsis
Douglas Hofstadter’s critically acclaimed return to the themes of Gödel, Escher, Bach—an original and controversial view of the nature of consciousness and identity.
The Washington Post - Peter D. Kramer
Questions about the boundaries, location, continuity and constituents of the self stand at the heart of philosophy, but a mathematician and physicist, Rene Descartes, set the terms of the discussion. Who better to bring us up to date than Douglas Hofstadter? Trained in math and physics, Hofstadter won a 1980 Pulitzer Prize for Godel, Escher, Bach, a bravura performance linking logic, art and music. He returns now to apply a concept from that book, the strange loop, to the definition of self.
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
In 1979, Douglas Hofstadter earned nationwide headlines when his quirky, erudite, thought-provoking Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid hit bestseller lists. The following year, it surprised no one when this imaginative book won the Pulitzer Prize. In I Am a Strange Loop, Hofstadter extends the themes of his magnum opus in new and expected ways. At the core of his narrative loop is the "I" itself, the nexus that enables us to posit our own free will. Hofstadter's own freewheeling wordplay on consciousness, cognition, physics, and identity will lead readers into radiant new avenues of inquiry.Peter D. Kramer
Questions about the boundaries, location, continuity and constituents of the self stand at the heart of philosophy, but a mathematician and physicist, Rene Descartes, set the terms of the discussion. Who better to bring us up to date than Douglas Hofstadter? Trained in math and physics, Hofstadter won a 1980 Pulitzer Prize for Godel, Escher, Bach, a bravura performance linking logic, art and music. He returns now to apply a concept from that book, the strange loop, to the definition of self.— The Washington Post
Publishers Weekly
Hofstadter—who won a Pulitzer for his 1979 book, Gödel, Escher, Bach—blends a surprising array of disciplines and styles in his continuing rumination on the nature of consciousness. Eschewing the study of biological processes as inadequate to the task, he argues that the phenomenon of self-awareness is best explained by an abstract model based on symbols and self-referential "loops," which, as they accumulate experiences, create high-level consciousness. Theories aside, it's impossible not to experience this book as a tender, remarkably personal and poignant effort to understand the death of his wife from cancer in 1993—and to grasp how consciousness mediates our otherwise ineffable relationships. In the end, Hofstadter's view is deeply philosophical rather than scientific. It's hopeful and romantic as well, as his model allows one consciousness to create and maintain within itself true representations of the essence of another. The book is all Hofstadter—part theory, some of it difficult; part affecting memoir; part inventive thought experiment—presented for the most part with an incorrigible playfulness. And whatever readers' reaction to the underlying arguments for this unique view of consciousness, they will find the model provocative and heroically humane. (Mar.)
Copyright 2007 Reed Business InformationLibrary Journal
What do we mean when we say "I"? What is it like to be a strange loop? In his new excursion into the nature of consciousness and selfhood, Hofstadter (cognitive & computer science, Indiana Univ., Bloomington) returns to the themes of his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid—those of "strange loops," or "tangled hierarchies," that give rise to our sense of identity. Besides updating the central thesis of strange loops from his previous books, Hofstadter introduces new ideas about the self-referential structure of consciousness and offers a multifaceted examination of what an "I" is. He conveys abstract, complicated ideas in a relaxed, conversational manner and uses many first-person stories and personal examples as well as two Platonic dialogs. Though Hofstadter admits he writes for the general educated public, he also hopes to reach professional philosophers interested in the epistemological implications of selfhood. Recommended primarily for public and undergraduate university libraries.—Victoria Shelton