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Surfaces and Essences: Analogy as the Fuel and Fire of Thinking
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Analogies: Core mechanics of human thought unraveled.
If you've ever wondered how our minds turn the chaos of the world into understandable narratives, "Surfaces and Essences" might just satisfy your intellectual curiosity. Hofstadter and Sander have crafted an elaborate exploration of how analogies shape our thinking. It's an intricate dance of ideas that could forever change how you perceive your thought process, especially if you enjoy delving deep into the cognitive science behind everyday understanding.
New
Surfaces and Essences: Analogy as the Fuel and Fire of Thinking
Regular price
- Unit price
- / per
ISBN: 9780465018475
Publisher: Basic Books
Date of Publication: 2013-04-23
Format: Hardcover
Goodreads rating: 3.82
(rated by 970 readers)
Description
Analogy is the core of all thinking. This is the simple but unorthodox premise that Pulitzer Prize–winning author Douglas Hofstadter and French psychologist Emmanuel Sander defend in their new work. Hofstadter has been grappling with the mysteries of human thought for over thirty years. Now, with his trademark wit and special talent for making complex ideas vivid, he has partnered with Sander to put forth a highly novel perspective on cognition. We are constantly faced with a swirling and intermingling multitude of ill-defined situations. Our brain’s job is to try to make sense of this unpredictable, swarming chaos of stimuli. How does it do so? The ceaseless hail of input triggers analogies galore, helping us to pinpoint the essence of what is going on. Often this means the spontaneous evocation of words, sometimes idioms, sometimes the triggering of nameless, long-buried memories. Why did two-year-old Camille proudly exclaim, “I undressed the banana!”? Why do people who hear a story often blurt out, “Exactly the same thing happened to me!” when it was a completely different event? How do we recognize an aggressive driver from a split-second glance in our rearview mirror? What in a friend’s remark triggers the offhand reply, “That’s just sour grapes”? What did Albert Einstein see that made him suspect that light consists
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*Books may be missing bundle media (e.g. CD, e-book code), if included.
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*Books may be missing bundle media (e.g. CD, e-book code), if included.
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Analogies: Core mechanics of human thought unraveled.
If you've ever wondered how our minds turn the chaos of the world into understandable narratives, "Surfaces and Essences" might just satisfy your intellectual curiosity. Hofstadter and Sander have crafted an elaborate exploration of how analogies shape our thinking. It's an intricate dance of ideas that could forever change how you perceive your thought process, especially if you enjoy delving deep into the cognitive science behind everyday understanding.
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