Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid

Excellent

Brilliant. If you lean towards learning, this is the one book to bring to the desert island.

GEB is pretty much the must-read book for anyone interested in computers and/or general philosophy of mind. Hofstadter has had a long, interesting career in the field of interesting mathematics and links between theory and real life. In his magnum opus, GEB, he explores what it is to be a self-thinking machine, and how, by looking at it from some other perspectives, we can learn a lot about how we think and do. The beginning of the book starts out by explaining some simple concepts, and then chains them together in ever-growing complexity. By the sections on natural-language processing, the symbolic logic can be a little overwhelming if you've not done symbol manipulation before.. Once powered-through (and assuming that you were able to either follow the logic, or trust in Hofstadter's reasoning chain), the book moves into more varied and easier to understand areas which demonstrate the Godel Theorem without going into the maths. I absolutely loved this book. It's a masterpiece of this generation. It takes some serious bending of the little grey cells to follow all of the logic, but the wonderful interplay of the music, art and maths is truly mind-expanding. Once you see what Hofstadter's pointing out, you simply can't un-see it. Pretty soon, you'll be making Quine-based quips, or looking for self-disproving theorems (like "This sentence is false"). Ahh, the beauty of a well-laid trap paradox! so, if you're scientific, technical or just plain interested in maths, then get this. It's a very weighty tome, and a recently added preface and some new sections make it even beefier. But it's so worth it. If I could draw parallels, I'd say it's as mind-expanding as Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance... that sort of thing.

It's a little complicated for a beginner, and thus is it hard to read at some points that have complex ideology, except that, great book

This book will guaranteed rewrite your brain chemistry. Good if you like math, logic, art, music, programming and computer science concepts, or any intersection of the previous subjects and more.

Interesting book, very long. Had to reread sections to understand it but I might just be dumb.

Douglas Hofstadter's Gödel, Escher, Bach (GEB) is a landmark exploration of logic, mathematics, and the nature of intelligence. However, its brilliance comes at a cost: sheer complexity. The book weaves together the ideas of logician Kurt Gödel, artist M.C. Escher, and composer Johann Sebastian Bach, highlighting surprising connections between formal systems, self-reference, and creativity. This interdisciplinary approach is fascinating, but it demands a lot from the reader. Here's what makes GEB a challenging read: Foundational Concepts: Grasping Gödel's incompleteness theorem, a cornerstone of the book, requires some mathematical background. Hofstadter offers an intuitive explanation, but it's a tough climb. Rapid Shifts: The book jumps between disciplines, sometimes within a single chapter. Following these connections can be mentally taxing. Escherian Twists: Hofstadter uses playful dialogues and self-referential jokes that mirror Escher's art. While clever, they can be distracting and slow down the reading pace. Is it Unreadable? Not entirely. Hofstadter's writing is engaging, and the core ideas are profound. However, be prepared for a battle. Recommendation: If you have a strong background in logic and a taste for intellectual puzzles, GEB will reward your effort. For others, it might be best approached with patience, supplemental readings, or perhaps an abridged version.

I am still trying to work through it, it is absolutely huge and very, very, thought provoking, so I am trying to digest it in small doses to let my slow brain ruminate over it's passages

Il faut avoir un bon sens de mathématiques et de l'anglais pour apprécier les phrases super-bien construites. Si c'est le cas ce livre est un bijou sans comparaison. Les paradoxes mathématiques inhérent dans la langue même dont on décrit la mathématique est clairement mis en avant. Et les liens avec l'art, que ça soit les dessins paradoxaux d'Escher ou la musique auto-référente de Bach, sont captivants.

It's amazing how much one can get out of this book. It covers pretty much everything... like all things. While I don't agree with everything in there, it's very fascinating and a fun read. It's one of those books where you can flip to any page and find a fantastic little gem. In saying that though you will want to read it cover to cover, as you can lose a bit of context jumping around. It's a book that tends to be recommended a lot to programmers, but I bought it for my wife when she was studying psychology and she loved it!

Este libro, escrito por Douglas Hofstadter, es como un rompecabezas fascinante que une ideas de matemáticas, música y arte para explorar temas profundos sobre cómo funciona la mente y qué significa ser consciente. Aunque puede sonar complicado, Hofstadter lo explica de forma creativa, usando ejemplos como el arte de M.C. Escher, la música de Bach y las matemáticas de Gödel para mostrar cómo las cosas se conectan y se reflejan unas a otras. La estructura del libro es única: combina explicaciones serias con diálogos entre personajes como Aquiles y la Tortuga, que hacen que las ideas parezcan un juego divertido. Es un libro que mezcla filosofía, ciencia e imaginación, haciéndote pensar en cómo las máquinas, como las computadoras, podrían llegar a tener algo parecido a la conciencia. Eso sí, no es un libro fácil. Algunos capítulos pueden sentirse densos o demasiado técnicos, pero si tienes paciencia, es muy gratificante. Más que aprender algo específico, este libro te cambia la manera de ver las cosas y te deja con muchas preguntas interesantes. Si te gustan los retos mentales, las ideas fuera de lo común o simplemente conectar puntos entre temas diferentes, Gödel, Escher, Bach es una experiencia que vale la pena

hard to understand

The book was in good condition and the shipping was fast.