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I Am a Strange Loop Hardcover – March 26, 2007

by Douglas R. Hofstadter (Author)

171 customer reviews

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What do we mean when we say "I"? Can thought arise out of matter? Can a self, a soul, a consciousness, an "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. Deep down, a human brain is a chaotic seething soup of particles, on a higher level it is a jungle of neurons, and on a yet higher level it is a network of abstractions that we call "symbols." The most central and complex symbol in your brain or mine is the one we both call "I." The "I" is the nexus in our brain where the levels feed back into each other and flip causality upside down, with symbols seeming to have free will and to have gained the paradoxical ability to push particles around, rather than the reverse. For each human being, this "I" seems to be the realest thing in the world. But how can such 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 all-powerful laws of physics? These are the mysteries tackled in I Am a Strange Loop, Douglas R. Hofstadter's first book-length journey into philosophy since Godel, Escher, Bach. Compulsively readable and endlessly thought-provoking, this is the book Hofstadter's many readers have long been waiting for.

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Amazon Best Books of the Month, March 2007: Pulitzer-Prize winner Douglas Hofstadter takes on some weighty and wonderful questions in I Am a Strange Loop--among them, the "size" of a soul and the vagaries of thought--and proposes persuasive answers that surprised me both with their simplicity and their sense of optimism: a rare combination to be found in a book that tackles the mysteries of the brain. This long-awaited book is a must-have for avid science readers and navel-gazers. --Anne Bartholomew
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. 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.)
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Product details

Hardcover: 436 pages
Publisher: Basic Books (March 26, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0465030785
ISBN-13: 978-0465030781
Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (171 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #458,543 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #881 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Philosophy > Consciousness & Thought
- #1143 in Books > Medical Books > Psychology > Cognitive
- #2490 in Books > Science & Math > History & Philosophy

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Customer Reviews

171

3.9 out of 5 stars

5 star		44%
4 star		11%
3 star		23%
2 star		14%
1 star		8%

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"I Am A Strange Loop" (Kindle Edition)

ByP. M. Ressleron March 11, 2012

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

An apparently key part of this book is an insert or annex that provides a number of color photographs illustrating the feedback (loop) concept Hofstadter is discussing. These pictures are not included in the Kindle Edition, thus leaving out important context and description. If Amazon is selling an abbreviated/abridged book, that fact should be stated up front, so we know what we are buying. Any book containing graphics, photos, equations, etc., should be checked closely before buying the Kindle edition. Had I known this was an abbreviated edition, I would not have purchased the Kindle edition. The book is too complex to be abbreviated.

11 comment 23 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Not as good as his other books

ByTimothy Knoxon April 21, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I loved Goedel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid. I grooved to Metamagical Themas. I had my mind blown a second time by Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies. All of those books had a deep influence on how I lived my life. This book merely evoked an, "Okay, that's one way to think about it." I want the time I invested in this book back. Sorry, Douglas, but this book just didn't open my mind or change my life like your other books did.

0Comment 2 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Five Stars

ByPJon February 6, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I really like Hofstadter's works

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Wanted: an editor

ByAmazon Customeron March 20, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

The mind emanates as an emergent construct from the interstices of the physiological brain (that is, if you agree with the physicalist or materialist interpretation of the mind-body problem). The mind creates in turn the illusion of the self. This is the central tenet of this book. In Douglas Hofstadter's own words, the main objective here is to try to pinpoint the nature of that "special kind of subtle pattern" that underlies what he refers to interchangeably as a "soul" or an "I" or the self. One could say that this entire book is a collection of illustrations of this central concept.

The problem with this premise though is that the mind itself is an illusion, as it does not possess any tangible properties. Thanks to this ontological constraint, our languages and descriptions also are wont to be imprecise. Hofstadter points out that this "twisting back of language" leads to a loss in logical correctitude. (Ironically, the plethora of autobiographical elements in this book itself - while endearing in some places - exemplifies this imprecision by contributing to the looseness of the narrative.)

I came to this book after reading "The Mind's I", which Hofstadter had co-authored with Daniel Dennett. I quite enjoyed reading that book - and had also heard a fair bit about Hofstadter's earlier book, "Godel, Escher and Bach", although I still haven't read it - and expected this one to be at least on par with "The Mind's I". But this book lacks the concision and intellectual rigour of the other one. I suspect there could be a few reasons for this: one is that Dennett perhaps had more editorial control over the other book. This suspicion is based on the fact that Dennett explained similar views - and a number of other concepts - a lot more succinctly and logically in his later work, "Consciousness Explained". Dennett presents also fairly reasoned arguments against Cartesian duality and the homunculus in the brain. (You do not have to agree with the materialist viewpoint. Nevertheless, Dennett's interpretation is well-argued.) In this book, however, while it is clear that Hofstadter is trying his hardest to deny the separation between mind and matter and other allied Cartesian themes, he does not appear to present any well-constructed and clear arguments for this denial. He instead spends considerable time describing Godel's top-down view of the mathematical theorem in Russell's Principia Mathematica as an illustration of how we are constrained by evolution to think of events at a macro level rather than at the level of particles and neurones and hence end up creating a world that may not be wholly correct. (James Gleick, on the contrary, explains Godel's work much more concisely and lucidly in his "The Information".)
It appears as if the publishers may have for some reason given Hofstadter unfettered reign over this book's content. Hofstadter's analogies neologisms and logic puzzles are initially very stimulating intellectually and the sweep of his imagination is at times admirable. However, these devices tend to wear thin as the narrative progresses because they become repetitive and overwhelming. In a number of places, the writing appears to be excessively verbose and even garrulous. (For instance, he gives not less than twelve examples to explain the idea that things do not go as planned.)

In summary, this book would have turned out a lot better if it had (a) a dispassionate no-nonsense editor ready to weed out the chaff, (b) arguments with more focus on the central themes and (c) less unfettered flights of imagination.

0Comment 4 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Enjoyable and Insightful

ByPlayingThePonzion October 29, 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

The clever and insightful articulation of a concept that is not easily articulated: the emergence of Self. As I understand his view, Self emerges as a higher-level concept from lower-level self-referencing loops. It seems to me that his view of the Self ties pretty cleanly into view commonly found in modern neuroscience, psychology, and even many mystical religious conceptions of Self (although he would probably argue, perhaps rightly, that there is nothing especially 'mystical' about those views in light of recent discoveries).

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It's very long and tiresome at places

ByAmazon Customeron June 7, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

It's very long and tiresome at places. In comparsion with GEB it is less sporadic with concepts but they are conveyed often in an abnormally long manner. I suggest reading it topological (don't be afraid to skip pages or only read intros of sections). It's still a good read with valid logic.

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Most Recent Customer Reviews

I love this book

Amazing read. I usually find a couple of threads to continue researching when I read a book. This one had dozens.

Published 3 months ago by PKD

Amazing!

Amazing! A bit beyond me from the middle, but I will find time to read it.

Published 5 months ago by Leroy Yue

Condensed GEB.

Essentially the same ideas developed in GEB, a little bit less fun, but easier to read.

Published 7 months ago by Amazon Customer

Fun read, good for people who like the idea ...

Honestly, if you've read Godel, Escher, and Bach this book will tickle your existential craving for understanding of existence.Read more

Published 9 months ago by Amazon Customer

I AM ADOLESCENT LOOP

412 PAGES - should be 41 pages - This guy is in love with his words, words, words. But he cares not for the simple declarative sentence.

Published 9 months ago by ratty

Five Stars

This book changed my life.

Published 10 months ago by Marcus Allen

Five Stars

Awesome

Published 11 months ago by Clay S.

which I soaked up with great interest many years ago

Hofstadter elaborates on the metaphysical revelations of Godel, Escher, Bach, which I soaked up with great interest many years ago. This is more than a follow-up.Read more

Published 12 months ago by Amazon Customer

Gödel, Escher, and Bach, with most of the math taken out

Douglas Hofstadter's "I Am A Strange Loop" is a follow up to his 1979 Pulitzer Prize winning book "Gödel, Escher, and Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid", so let...Read more

Published 1 year ago by Vincent Poirier

Recommended for math lovers

Very interesting for someone like me - I love math and patterns, but I am by no means an expert. Hofstadter explains some difficult concepts quite clearly, without being...Read more

Published 1 year ago by Michael Tensmeyer

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I Am a Strange Loop Hardcover – March 26, 2007

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