Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid

Description

Douglas Hofstadter’s book is concerned directly with the nature of "maps" or links between formal systems. However, according to Hofstadter, the formal system that underlies all mental activity transcends the system that supports it. If life can grow out of the formal chemical substrate of the cell, if consciousness can emerge out of a formal system of firing neurons, then so too will computers attain human intelligence. Gödel Escher and Bach is a wonderful exploration of fascinating ideas at the heart of cognitive science: meaning, reduction, recursion, and much more. Front cover Preface Table of contents Overview List of illustrations Words of thanks Part 1 Introduction: A musical-logical offering Three-part intervention Chapter 1: The MU-puzzle Two-part intervention Chapter 2: Meaning and form of mathematics Sonata for unaccompanied Achilles Chapter 3: Figure and ground Contracrostipunctus Chapter 4: Consistency, completeness and geometry Little harmonic labyrinth Chapter 5: Recursive structures and processes Canon by intervallic augmentation Chapter 6: The location of meaning Chromatic fantasy, and feud Chapter 7: The propositional calculus Crab canon Chapter 8: Typographical number theory A Mu offering Chapter 9: Mumon and Godel Part 2 Prelude Chapter 10: Levels of description, and computer systems Ant fugue Chapter 11: Brains and thoughts English French German suite Chapter 12: Minds and thoughts Aria with diverse variations Chapter 13: BlooP and FlooP and GlooP Air on G's string Chapter 14: On formally undecidable proposition of TNT and related systems Birthday cantatatata Chapter 15: Jumping out of the system Edifying thoughts of a tobacco smoker Chapter 16: Self-ref and self-rep The magnificrab, indeed Chapter 17: Church, Turing, Tarski and others SHRDLU, toys of man's designing Chapter 18: Artificial Intelligence: Retrospects Contrafactus Chapter 19: Artificial Intelligence: Prospects Sloth canon Chapter 20: Strange loops, or tangled hierarchies Six-part ricercar Notes Bibliography Credits Index Back cover