I Am a Strange Loop

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Exploring the enigma of consciousness with loops.

If you've ever laid awake pondering the "self" and how our consciousness comes to be, Hofstadter's "I Am a Strange Loop" could lead you down a fascinating path. Blending philosophy with a touch of his signature cognitive science, Hofstadter invites you to explore the concept of the strange loop within our minds. It's provocative and might change how you perceive the "I" within you.

  • Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Science and Technology (2007)
Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.

I Am a Strange Loop

Regular price
Unit price
per
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ISBN: 9780465030798
Publisher: Basic Books
Date of Publication: 2008-07-08
Format: Paperback
Related Collections: Science, Philosophy
Goodreads rating: 3.95
(rated by 7954 readers)

Description

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.
 

Exploring the enigma of consciousness with loops.

If you've ever laid awake pondering the "self" and how our consciousness comes to be, Hofstadter's "I Am a Strange Loop" could lead you down a fascinating path. Blending philosophy with a touch of his signature cognitive science, Hofstadter invites you to explore the concept of the strange loop within our minds. It's provocative and might change how you perceive the "I" within you.

  • Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Science and Technology (2007)
Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.