Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid
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- Create Date：2021-03-05 03:16:28
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Douglas R. Hofstadter
- ISBN：0465026567
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Summary
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， Bach is a wonderful exploration of fascinating ideas at the heart of cognitive science: meaning， reduction， recursion， and much more。
Reviews
zltg
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I think time has shown that the vague Strange Loop idea turns out to be fruitless to the development of AI。 Reading this 700+ page book felt like going through a dated theme park built in the 70s: You want to leave but you stay only because， regrettably， you already paid for the entrance。
Islomjon
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It's hard to describe this book with one word and give a stable opinion。 At some points the book was very fascinating in giving new ways to look at the world with analogies or 'isomorphisms。' While Dialogues part between each chapter was redundant， I think。 I also liked how author gave parallels to works of Gödel， Escher and Bach with these Dialogues。 Book was full of Escher's pictures and Bach's works， and overwhelming quantity of mathematical theorems and proofs。 MIU-system's value and mechani It's hard to describe this book with one word and give a stable opinion。 At some points the book was very fascinating in giving new ways to look at the world with analogies or 'isomorphisms。' While Dialogues part between each chapter was redundant， I think。 I also liked how author gave parallels to works of Gödel， Escher and Bach with these Dialogues。 Book was full of Escher's pictures and Bach's works， and overwhelming quantity of mathematical theorems and proofs。 MIU-system's value and mechanism was really misunderstood。 Furthermore， discussions about AI were at some point， in fact， obsolete with modern technology。 。。。more
Matt
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A review of this book would be remiss to not mention itself。 In a proper review， I would say that this a book that reaches out of itself and talks to the reader lucidly about itself。 Maybe this review can do the same。 A deep exploration of human consciousness and the interconnected systems that let us make sense of things， this review is not， but this book is。 It delves into a host of topics and fields and categories and literary styles and is an aboundingly enjoyable read。 If you like philosoph A review of this book would be remiss to not mention itself。 In a proper review， I would say that this a book that reaches out of itself and talks to the reader lucidly about itself。 Maybe this review can do the same。 A deep exploration of human consciousness and the interconnected systems that let us make sense of things， this review is not， but this book is。 It delves into a host of topics and fields and categories and literary styles and is an aboundingly enjoyable read。 If you like philosophy or consciousness or meta-storytelling or meta in any form， you'll probably like this book， and maybe this review。 。。。more
Roman
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reading this book， very interesting philosophical cross-subject mixed literary and scientifical passages on our universum math， logic， music， phylosophy， art， myths and paradoxes。 Very unusual food for minds curious about these areas of thought。 It leads to and present discussions on software and AI logic， paradoxes， problems and such。
Trinity Dickinson
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Up its own ass so far it becomes a strange colonic loop and gains sentience。 From what I read， it's definitely written to make people think it's saying more than it is。 Didn't finish。 Up its own ass so far it becomes a strange colonic loop and gains sentience。 From what I read， it's definitely written to make people think it's saying more than it is。 Didn't finish。 。。。more
Valerio
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This is simply my favorite book。
Juan B
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There's a fantastic book contained inside this gargantuan treatise。 About one third of it is formed by ingenious visions of the significance of and interconnections between maths， art， logic， music， intelligence， Zen， the emergence of meaning， and more。。。 The rest of the book being comprised of attempts at these。 It may open awe-inspiring vistas of thought for some， others may come out of it empty and annoyed at a collossal waste of time。 I empathize with both。 But this book is one of those few There's a fantastic book contained inside this gargantuan treatise。 About one third of it is formed by ingenious visions of the significance of and interconnections between maths， art， logic， music， intelligence， Zen， the emergence of meaning， and more。。。 The rest of the book being comprised of attempts at these。 It may open awe-inspiring vistas of thought for some， others may come out of it empty and annoyed at a collossal waste of time。 I empathize with both。 But this book is one of those few that can make you feel like you've grasped a tiny， deep insight on the nature of basic reality， and just for that I will say it deserves four stars。 。。。more
Maye
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A well written book。 Enjoyed reading it。
Forrest
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A well written book。 Enjoyed reading it。
Adolf
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A well written book。 Enjoyed reading it。
Antwon
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A well written book。 Enjoyed reading it。
Stanton
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A well written book。 Enjoyed reading it。
Arch
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A well written book。 Enjoyed reading it。
Cristal
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A well written book。 Enjoyed reading it。
Candido
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A well written book。 Enjoyed reading it。
Arden
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A well written book。 Enjoyed reading it。
Brittany
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A well written book。 Enjoyed reading it。
Hobart
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A well written book。 Enjoyed reading it。
Eliseo
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A well written book。 Enjoyed reading it。
Tiago Faleiro
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I was really looking forward to this book， seeing it mentioned so many times。 I was particularly intrigued by the intersection of fields， which of course is alluded to directly in the title。 I was immediately hooked when he dived into Godel's incompleteness theorems， which I've longed been fascinated by but always felt I could never understand it on a deep level。 I enjoyed his description of the topic， and I understand the topic much better。 I particularly liked the connection to the history of I was really looking forward to this book， seeing it mentioned so many times。 I was particularly intrigued by the intersection of fields， which of course is alluded to directly in the title。 I was immediately hooked when he dived into Godel's incompleteness theorems， which I've longed been fascinated by but always felt I could never understand it on a deep level。 I enjoyed his description of the topic， and I understand the topic much better。 I particularly liked the connection to the history of mathematics itself， mentioning Rusell's and Whitehead's Principia Mathematica which tried to derive all mathematics from logic。 Beyond Godel， the other two key figures are Escher and Bach。 It's not like they are all related or saying the same thing， but he does use it to explore the topic he wants to explain， often being self-reference。 I really enjoyed the connections of mathematics and Escher， and it's great that there are so many pictures in the book。 Bach was equally fascinating， but harder to grasp due to my music illiteracy。The book heavily relies on logic， and sometimes mathematics。 I was quite hesitant about this， but at least in the beginning， I was pleasantly surprised about how they were introduced。 It made me view logic in a new way， and it doesn't look as intimidating as it once was。 At the beginning of each chapter， Douglas tells a little narrative that exemplifies the concepts he is going to cover later。 I was mindblown by how good some of these were。 Not only were they incredibly enjoyable to read by themselves as just short stories， but I was amazed by his creativity to put such complex logical notions in a narrative form that doesn't require math。 Some were better than others， but overall it was fantastic and it made the book super fun to read and felt incredibly original。 It's most definitely unique， and that alone makes it super valuable even if it's not your cup of tea。 Despite being topics that I enjoy and I liked the authors writing， as the book progressed it got harder and harder。 It wasn't the type of hard that it seemed impossible for me to get， although at times it was the case， most of the time it just required an insane amount of concentration and re-reading。 And this killed the mood for me at some point。 The beginning was honestly fun， which while I love non-fiction， it isn't an adjective that fits very often。 But slowly that fun faded away， and I got increasingly demotivated to read it。 The way I had to approach the book felt like I was studying for an exam， and it just wasn't worth it。 I took a break half-way and hoped that I'd be more motivated later， but I never had the motivation to get back to it。 I felt bad quitting the book because I'm sure that there are many interesting ideas that I'd get to， but I just couldn't justify the hassle。 However， perhaps the book got a bit better later on。 And if you're more inclined towards mathematics and logic than I am， I think you will get a lot more out the book and find it easier to read。 I don't regret reading the first half that I did， and in the beginning， it was super fun and I understood Godel's theorem much better， but overall it just wasn't for me。 Nevertheless， I was impressed by the author's creativity and the emphasis on self-reference。 Perhaps I will pick up a newer book from him， as this one was quite old， published in 1979。Also， it's maybe worth mentioning that MIT has an online course for free based on the book， which is 8h long or so （not very long considering GEB is 700 pages）， and it might be a good alternative instead of the book。 。。。more
Courtney Dantzler
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Wow， this book is a work of art。 It might as well be my bible。 I like reading through and reciting my favorite passages， thinking about the profundity of its strange ideas and Hofstadter's clever writing – but Jesus， I'm probably never going to read it front to back ever again。 It's super long and winding and a bit dated。 But I still really enjoyed it， and I'll keep looking back at it in chunks。 I highly recommend this if you're interested in cognitive science， computing， philosophy， math， puzzl Wow， this book is a work of art。 It might as well be my bible。 I like reading through and reciting my favorite passages， thinking about the profundity of its strange ideas and Hofstadter's clever writing – but Jesus， I'm probably never going to read it front to back ever again。 It's super long and winding and a bit dated。 But I still really enjoyed it， and I'll keep looking back at it in chunks。 I highly recommend this if you're interested in cognitive science， computing， philosophy， math， puzzles， and Lewis Carroll。 I also think you'll enjoy GEB if you like reading the same page over and over again until it makes sense。 The only things that really bug me: the misinterpretation of John Cage's work， the out-of-place inclusion of Zen philosophy， the longwinded and confusing explanations of every mathematical concept， the fact that Hofstadter had to explicitly explain what the book was about 20 years later in the anniversary edition preface，。。。。。For future reference， my favorite chapters were Recursive Structures and Processes， Levels of Description and Computer Systems， Brains and Thoughts， Minds and Thoughts， BlooP and FlooP and GlooP， and Artificial Intelligence: Retrospects。 And my favorite dialogues were Prelude and Ant Fugue （these two are absolutely genius）， Contracrostipunctus， Little Harmonic Labyrinth， and Six-Part Ricercar。 。。。more
Farouk Ramzan
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Oh boy。
Aaron Nielsen
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I first picked this up about two years ago and even though Hofstadter cleverly warms you up to Gödel and his mind blowing theorems， I put the book down and embarked a short excursion to get to know Gödel and his place in Philosophy of Mathematics。 I enjoyed Goldstein’s biography of him， read about the logical positivists and the Vienna Circle， and took a philosophy class at the local university on the proofs of his Incompleteness Theorems。 Like Hofstadter， I devoured Nagel and Newman’s discussio I first picked this up about two years ago and even though Hofstadter cleverly warms you up to Gödel and his mind blowing theorems， I put the book down and embarked a short excursion to get to know Gödel and his place in Philosophy of Mathematics。 I enjoyed Goldstein’s biography of him， read about the logical positivists and the Vienna Circle， and took a philosophy class at the local university on the proofs of his Incompleteness Theorems。 Like Hofstadter， I devoured Nagel and Newman’s discussion of Gödel‘s proofs。Feeling a little more confident to tackle this big brick， I dove in and read over the course of a month to great pleasure。 The book itself is deep on many levels with some of the richest metaphors and word play I’ve read。 Of course， whenever I would find a little Easter Egg or all too weird coincidence， I’d simultaneously wonder how many other readers found it and also how many other Easter Eggs I was missing。 What is the book about？ According to author in the introduction to the 20th edition， most readers have no clue。 Reviews of the book in many publications sound like they have no clue either， using descriptions like “it’s about math， art， and music。” Sure， these topics play a fun role in the overall grand scheme， but I think Hofstadter is pushing for something far deeper。 I really enjoyed the format of the book。 There were silly interludes of cartoon characters alluding to much deeper topics to be discussed in the following chapter。 At times the journey through the book can feel psychedelic with excursions into foundational mathematics， Turing machines， formal systems， molecular biology， music theory， modern art， self reference， and artificial intelligence。This is a challenging read and I’m sure nearly all readers will not be an expert in many of the topics discussed in the book but I found it extremely enjoyable to read and experience。 I no doubt did not fully understand every detail of this book and for that reason， it’ll be a great book to revisit in a few years。 Two thumbs up。 Five stars。 Would highly recommend to nerds。 。。。more
Rachel
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This is a great book and it will change the way you look at the world， if you open your mind to it。 The principles in this book are the underlying structure for all of nature and the universe。 To me， I'm not quite sure how you could NOT find that fascinating。。。 It's hilarious that all the bad reviews are talking about how egotistic the author is， I didn't get that impression at all。 These reviews remind me of someone looking at a piece of simplistic modern art and standing back and saying "*I* c This is a great book and it will change the way you look at the world， if you open your mind to it。 The principles in this book are the underlying structure for all of nature and the universe。 To me， I'm not quite sure how you could NOT find that fascinating。。。 It's hilarious that all the bad reviews are talking about how egotistic the author is， I didn't get that impression at all。 These reviews remind me of someone looking at a piece of simplistic modern art and standing back and saying "*I* could have painted that。" Well， you didn't。 。。。more
Lakmus
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Gave up on p。582。If recursion had a fandom， this is the fandom wiki， ran by this one guy， who， for some reason， decided to print and sell it。 You do have to admire the balls though （also of the editor and the publisher who approved of this sprawling monstrosity）。
Anthony Mangino
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This will likely be one of the few texts for which I leave a short review as many others over the several decades since its publication have said it all in far more eloquent terms than could I。This book has a history， it has a life of its own。 Those who dislike it have all the reason to do so， as do those who love it。 Illustrating the complexities of cognition and computation through numerous levels of self-reference and his own idea of the Strange Loop， Hofstadter's exposition is a beautiful ex This will likely be one of the few texts for which I leave a short review as many others over the several decades since its publication have said it all in far more eloquent terms than could I。This book has a history， it has a life of its own。 Those who dislike it have all the reason to do so， as do those who love it。 Illustrating the complexities of cognition and computation through numerous levels of self-reference and his own idea of the Strange Loop， Hofstadter's exposition is a beautiful exercise in excess that can enlighten and frustrate the sensibilities， often simultaneously。This book is not for the faint of heart， the easily frustrated， or those who dislike grandiosity。 It demands much of its readers， but carries rewards in abundance - this reader found many。 。。。more
José
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Lo empecé con mucho entusiasmo， pero la escritura se vuelve tediosa。 Algo que parezca complejo， no significa que sea tragable。 Abandonado por tedio。
Contadino
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Hot take: No overarching structure。 No bigger point。 Gave up after 160 pages and rather took a nap。
Fanglin
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Finally finished reading this after almost four years since starting。 The book goes into a lot of technical details and the nuances of artificial intelligence （as creating something humanlike through understanding the mind）。 Therefore it's easy to lose track of the big picture--and get distracted by the ingenious conversations which I nevertheless enjoyed immensely--and that's why it took me so long to read it。 At some point I had to start from the beginning all over again just to get familiar w Finally finished reading this after almost four years since starting。 The book goes into a lot of technical details and the nuances of artificial intelligence （as creating something humanlike through understanding the mind）。 Therefore it's easy to lose track of the big picture--and get distracted by the ingenious conversations which I nevertheless enjoyed immensely--and that's why it took me so long to read it。 At some point I had to start from the beginning all over again just to get familiar with all the references the author makes to the earlier topics （formal systems， etc）。Inevitably one stops and wonders why today's research in AI and all the hype about machine learning （and deep learning） are so disparate from the kind of AI the author is so enthusiastic--and many would say intransigent--about。 It's sad and I have nothing but respect and admiration for all those who， like the author， continues to follow their beliefs in such a direction despite all the odds being against them。 。。。more
Rob Forteath
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