Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R. Hofstadter
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Book Reviews of Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
Book Review: Brilliant and *still* misunderstood!
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been reading reviews of GEB for years, and the most fascinating thing about them, aprt from the near-uniform enthusiasm of the readers, is that almost none of the enthusiatic readers have any idea of what the book is actually about! The typical reader seesm to think of GEB as a jouyous romp through any number of fascinating bits of logic, math and science without any idea as to what Hofstader's actually doing. Yes, it's about Goedel, and recursion, and "strange loops", and linguistics Bach and ants and all that- but only trivially. The bulk of the book is taken up with what amounts to a very entertaining tutorial that sets the reader up for the real thesis of the book. What Hofstadter has attempted in GEB is nothing less than a concise, bottom-up theory of mind. You can read it as a theory of AI, or a theory of human intelligence, but either way he's telling you how to construct an intelligent entity.
True, he doesn't really have a theory of *how* a self-aware being should arise from his metaphorical anthill, but then, neither does anyone else. But he does have a very good story as to how intelligence does arise in such conditions.
If you've read this book before without understanding what his aim was, read it again, with that notion in mind. And if you haven't read it, and you're the sort of person who enjoys mathematic and scientific amusements of any sort, well, read it and discover how much fun a speculative theory can be.
Book Review: It's simple, just squint your eyes when you read it . . .
Summary: 5 Stars
and FEEL the world within you and without you.
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But you might have to squint your eyes to see it . . .
See it? . . .
It's right here.
Yes, here.
But not in this review.
Get it?
Hofstadter does . . .
Good Luck!
-Zhil
Book Review: Brilliantly Done,
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a unique book written by an even more unique author. If you are one who likes to dwell on the big idea of this world this is the book. Like a modern day Pythagoras, the author shows how mathematical properties or themes are expressed in various media. The title shows it is mainly concerned with the underlying relationship in the works of Godel, a mathematician, Escher, an artist, and the composer, J.S. Bach. This book also intertwines a host of other fields to demonstrate the same underlying concepts are prominent in such areas as the genetic coding, fractals, computer language, logic and philosophy. This is definitely a book that will leave an impression. The author, Douglas R. Hofstadter has developed well thought out concepts. He demonstrates a deep and intimate knowledge in many diverse fields. Only a modern Renaissance person could realize the connections and write this book. Heraclitus should have said you cannot read the same book twice. I read this book in the early eighties and it astounded me. I had the same impression reading it twenty years later. Although this book is well written, because of the subject matter it is not always light reading. It is helpful to have a pencil ready to work out the logic problems. The artwork must be viewed and the related concepts considered. A second reading of this book has spurred me onto purchasing his other books.Book Review: Improves with age
Summary: 5 Stars
I did not review this book immediately after reading it, thinking that my opinion was already well represented by any number of two star reviews on here. I'm glad I didn't.
My initial impression was nonplussed. A lot of the ideas in here are nothing new to any junior-level computer science undergraduate, with one or two neat ways of looking at them. The Tortoise/Achilles segments were occasionally funny, and only his analysis of "ant cognition" and the record story were anything novel to me. This was a sentiment that seemed echoed over and over in reviews.
However, in retrospect, I find that this book did much more for me than I had ever thought. While the ideas in here were nothing new, the things they were applied to were. GEB, despite my initial dismissal, radically changed the framework in which I thought about things, without me even knowing it. The value if GEB is not so much in the ideas it contains (although if you've never been exposed to them before, you'll no doubt find them interesting). It is in the way they are used.
So, for anybody considering whether you should read this book: Yes. It will be long, and in parts tedious. You may find yourself nodding your head impatiently, waiting for the bits that aren't old news to you. You may not even like it. But you may find yourself slightly changed by it nonetheless.
Book Review: Tremendous inspiration for those with a humanist worldview
Summary: 5 Stars
I admit it: I tried twice over the span of ten years to get through this book before I finally succeeded last year. And no, I can't claim to have read every single word on every single page ("Crab" grows tedious at times).Yet I don't think Hofstader would be too disappointed in me, because I laid the book down feeling more inspired and optimistic about humanity than at any previous time in my life. By my third attempt at digesting GEB, I had arrived at a point where I was hungry for rigorous apologetic commentary on my reason-based worldview. The stunning thing about Hofstadter's book is that he managed to capture, at a still-early stage in the digital computing revolution, the essence of what is inevitably to come.
As I neared the end of the book, I was gripped with the visceral certainty that humanity will ultimately transcend everything we know, that progress for all--though ambiguous in meaning--is attainable, that the human mind is the only seed necessary to produce astounding revolutions in our collective conscious experience.
I stand in awe of the singular act of creativity and vision that produced GEB. The book may not be for everyone, but I for one forgive Hofstadter all of his self-indulgences. The sum here is vastly greater than the many complex and fascinating parts. Pick your copy up again and give it another try!