Godel Escher Bach

[TheGreatGatsby]

Read or don't read?

I have it and it's rather long.

[Clinton Huxley]

It's been sat on my shelf for maybe 15 years. Unread.

[hadespussercats]

My husband bought a copy a few years back(I'm pretty sure he didn't read the whole thing.) I've seen it cited often, so I'm curious-- not curious enough, I guess, to open it and read for myself. But I'd like to hear from someone who has, too-- see if it's worth my while.

[Robert_S]

I liked it, it's long and requires work, but I thought it was well worth it.

In a roundabout way, it's how I came to read Dawkins. I read that, then a few years later I found "The Mind's I" a collection of short pieces from various authors with reflections from Douglas Hoffstadter or Dan Dennett. It had an excerpt from The Selfish Gene in it.

I would suggest reading the first chapter or two, then thumbing through the rest of the book before deciding whether or not to purchase it.

[Robert_S]

I would be interested to hear what Jim has to say about this book. The thread got me thinking about things numeric and spent several hours last night pondering primes.

[JimC]

I would be interested to hear what Jim has to say about this book. The thread got me thinking about things numeric and spent several hours last night pondering primes.

Read it many years ago and thought it was fascinating. I only have a partial grasp of Godel's Incompleteness theorem, but it is vital, and crops up in many other books on the history of mathematics. The whole idea of recursion, and its links with art and music is also a vauable insight; it occurs to me that the endless recursive grammatical possibilities of human speech are another exemplar of the link between human cognition and deeper patterns and structures.

[Robert_S]

I would be interested to hear what Jim has to say about this book. The thread got me thinking about things numeric and spent several hours last night pondering primes.

Read it many years ago and thought it was fascinating. I only have a partial grasp of Godel's Incompleteness theorem, but it is vital, and crops up in many other books on the history of mathematics. The whole idea of recursion, and its links with art and music is also a vauable insight; it occurs to me that the endless recursive grammatical possibilities of human speech are another exemplar of the link between human cognition and deeper patterns and structures.

According to the intro to the latest edition, his strange loop theory of consciousness is the whole point of the book. All the other really cool stuff in there was just setting the stage.

[JimC]

I would be interested to hear what Jim has to say about this book. The thread got me thinking about things numeric and spent several hours last night pondering primes.

Read it many years ago and thought it was fascinating. I only have a partial grasp of Godel's Incompleteness theorem, but it is vital, and crops up in many other books on the history of mathematics. The whole idea of recursion, and its links with art and music is also a vauable insight; it occurs to me that the endless recursive grammatical possibilities of human speech are another exemplar of the link between human cognition and deeper patterns and structures.

According to the intro to the latest edition, his strange loop theory of consciousness is the whole point of the book. All the other really cool stuff in there was just setting the stage.

One day I must re-read it; I don't actually have it, I borrowed it from a library...

[Robert_S]

I would be interested to hear what Jim has to say about this book. The thread got me thinking about things numeric and spent several hours last night pondering primes.

Read it many years ago and thought it was fascinating. I only have a partial grasp of Godel's Incompleteness theorem, but it is vital, and crops up in many other books on the history of mathematics. The whole idea of recursion, and its links with art and music is also a vauable insight; it occurs to me that the endless recursive grammatical possibilities of human speech are another exemplar of the link between human cognition and deeper patterns and structures.

According to the intro to the latest edition, his strange loop theory of consciousness is the whole point of the book. All the other really cool stuff in there was just setting the stage.

One day I must re-read it; I don't actually have it, I borrowed it from a library...

I bought it thrice used and once new. Once in a while I find someone I think will appreciate it so I lend it to them without expecting to have it returned.

[DRSB]

Read or don't read?

I have it and it's rather long.

Read if you are able to, it is quite a challenge, I managed to take in only excerpts.

[orpheus]

Excellent, excellent. Well worth the effort.

[Atheist-Lite]

I knew someone who read it but they committed suicide.

[Xamonas Chegwé]

It's awesome. One of my desert island books. Oddly, enough, Robert, it was my route into reading Dennett - via The Mind's I.