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I Am a Strange Loop Paperback – July 8, 2008

by Douglas R. Hofstadter (Author)

187 customer reviews

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One of our greatest philosophers and scientists of the mind asks, where does the self come from--and how our selves can exist in the minds of others.

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.

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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

Review

"[F]ascinating... original and thought-provoking.... [T]here are many pleasures in I Am a Strange Loop."―Wall Street Journal

"I Am a Strange Loop is thoughtful, amusing and infectiously enthusiastic."―Bloomberg news

"I Am a Strange Loop scales some lofty conceptual heights, but it remains very personal, and it's deeply colored by the facts of Hofstadter's later life. In 1993 Hofstadter's wife Carol died suddenly of a brain tumor at only 42, leaving him with two young children to care for.... I Am a Strange Loop is a work of rigorous thinking, but it's also an extraordinary tribute to the memory of romantic love: The Year of Magical Thinking for mathematicians."―Time

"I Am a Strange Loop is vintage Hofstadter: earnest, deep, overflowing with ideas, building its argument into the experience of reading it-for if our souls can incorporate those of others, then I Am a Strange Loop can transmit Hofstadter's into ours. And indeed, it is impossible to come away from this book without having introduced elements of his point of view into our own. It may not make us kinder or more compassionate, but we will never look at the world, inside or out, in the same way again."―Los AngelesTimes Book Review

"Nearly thirty years after his best-selling book Gödel, Escher, Bach, cognitive scientist and polymath Douglas Hofstadter has returned to his extraordinary theory of self."―New Scientist

"His new book, as brilliant and provocative as earlier ones, is a colorful mix of speculations with passages of autobiography."―Martin Gardiner

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Product details

Paperback: 436 pages
Publisher: Basic Books; Reprint edition (July 8, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0465030793
ISBN-13: 978-0465030798
Product Dimensions: 6 x 1.1 x 9.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 187 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #112,534 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #59 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Philosophy > Free Will & Determinism
- #108 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Philosophy > Epistemology
- #116 in Books > Computers & Technology > Computer Science > AI & Machine Learning > Intelligence & Semantics

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"I Am A Strange Loop" (Kindle Edition)

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.

68 people found this helpful

Comment

PsychGradStudent

Fascinating book, and much shorter than Godel, Escher ...

January 8, 2018

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Fascinating book, and much shorter than Godel, Escher, Bach, for those of us who want to understand the ideas without reading a 700 page tome.

7 people found this helpful

Comment

Amazon Customer

which I soaked up with great interest many years ago

May 1, 2016

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

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. It explores concepts lucidly and accessibly, combining humor and personal, autobiographical elements from the perspective of an older and wiser professor.

4 people found this helpful

Comment

an important perspective

March 5, 2018

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I had a somewhat difficult time assessing the quality of this work because, while the discussion concerns some very important topics, the book is relatively poorly written. The youthful exuberance and brilliance that made GEB a classic are gone, replaced by a more sober and meditative exposition: Quite often tedious and boring. But I think that what Prof. Hofstadter is discussing and his ideas are very important. Therefore I strongly recommend the book for helping to understand Godel’s work, and the author’s views in the science and philosophy of mind. He often elaborates points that are rather easy to grasp, and with respect to alternative perspectives or viewpoints, he often sets up “straw men” to compare with his ideas and oversimplifies. What we are given here is a very flawed piece of work, and no classic like GEB, but important to read because the author’s ideas are important, and from a more mature perspective than GEB.

5 people found this helpful

Comment

Possibly my favorite book ever

July 7, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Couldn't put it down. Great style. Explains the hardest thing to explain in the world by using intuition pumps, personal stories, mathematics, and analogies. Builds up a repertoire of entities that stay with you the whole book getting enriched every time they're called back to illustrate a point.

Hofstadter must really hate mosquitos.

4 people found this helpful

Comment

I love this book

January 25, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

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

4 people found this helpful

Comment

A thrilling romp in loop space.

March 26, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Wow! This is way over my head, going to have to read it again. It's a fascinating journey into what you mean when you say "I", with some arcane side-trips into Principia Mathemetica and Godel's incompleteness theorems. Read it, if you have the guts. Then read it again, because you won't understand it the first time around.

3 people found this helpful

Comment

Not as good as his other books

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.

5 people found this helpful

Comment

Most recent customer reviews

Nathan Phillips

Even if we are math we can have souls

Douglas Adams once again proves that he's deeper than a magazine math puzzle. He covers topics as deep and heartfelt as the secular loss of a loved one and what it means to be...Read more

Published 1 month ago

Not sure I can agree with reasoning.

Published 3 months ago

Kindle Customer

This book was masterful and blended everthung so maturely and masterfully. A degunute must read for sure. Opened up a lot of thoughts about my own head

Published 3 months ago

Even when alone you're not alone

This is rather long for a one-trick pony ride and, after about the middle, devolves into what looks to this old psychoanalyst like pathological grief.Read more

Published 4 months ago

I emphatically recommend it to everyone

Along with "Godel, Escher, Bach", this book ranks as one of the most important and enlightening experiences of my life. I emphatically recommend it to everyone.

Published 6 months ago

Hofstadter is brilliant as usual!

Published 7 months ago

A companion, during and after the read

captivating fresh perceptions, shared conversationally, with humor and a very personal touch. Hence, the best companion during the small hours of the night.Read more

Published 9 months ago

A stand out example of the author's unique and remarkable flavor

Hofstadter may be history's greatest blender of cold rational well-founded thought and fanciful, human, artistic flair.Read more

Published 10 months ago

The stuff that are dreamt of in new philosophy.

A new twist in what it means to be human!
Great insight and smoothly readable.

Published 1 year ago

I'm only a few chapters in but I feel like I am more intelligent than the author. Very disappointing.

Published 1 year ago

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