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''I Am a Strange Loop'' is a 2007 book by
Douglas Hofstadter Douglas Richard Hofstadter (born 15 February 1945) is an American cognitive and computer scientist whose research includes concepts such as the sense of self in relation to the external world, consciousness, analogy-making, Strange loop, strange ...
, examining in depth the concept of a '' strange loop'' to explain the sense of "I". The concept of a ''strange loop'' was originally developed in his 1979 book ''
Gödel, Escher, Bach ''Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid'' (abbreviated as ''GEB'') is a 1979 nonfiction book by American cognitive scientist Douglas Hofstadter. By exploring common themes in the lives and works of logician Kurt Gödel, artist M. C. Esc ...
''.


Content

Hofstadter had previously expressed disappointment with how ''Gödel, Escher, Bach'', which won the 1980
Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction The Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are awarded annually for the "Letters, Drama, and Music" category. The award is given to a nonfiction book written by an American author and published du ...
, was received. In the preface to its 20th anniversary edition, he laments that the book was perceived as a hodgepodge of neat things with no central theme. He writes: "GEB is a very personal attempt to say how it is that animate beings can come out of inanimate matter. What is a self, and how can a self come out of stuff that is as selfless as a stone or a puddle?" Hofstadter seeks to remedy this problem in ''I Am a Strange Loop'' by focusing on and expounding the central message of ''Gödel, Escher, Bach''. He demonstrates how the properties of
self-referential Self-reference is a concept that involves referring to oneself or one's own attributes, characteristics, or actions. It can occur in language, logic, mathematics, philosophy, and other fields. In natural language, natural or formal languages, ...
systems, demonstrated most famously in
Gödel's incompleteness theorems Gödel's incompleteness theorems are two theorems of mathematical logic that are concerned with the limits of in formal axiomatic theories. These results, published by Kurt Gödel in 1931, are important both in mathematical logic and in the phi ...
, can be used to describe the unique properties of
mind The mind is that which thinks, feels, perceives, imagines, remembers, and wills. It covers the totality of mental phenomena, including both conscious processes, through which an individual is aware of external and internal circumstances ...
s. As an exploration of the sense of "I", Hofstadter explores his own life and those to whom he has been close. The book received favorable reviews. The ''
Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
'' called it "fascinating", "original", and "thought-provoking".


See also

*
Feedback loop Feedback occurs when outputs of a system are routed back as inputs as part of a chain of cause and effect that forms a circuit or loop. The system can then be said to ''feed back'' into itself. The notion of cause-and-effect has to be handle ...
*
Phenomenology (philosophy) Phenomenology is a philosophical study and movement largely associated with the early 20th century that seeks to Subjectivity_and_objectivity_(philosophy), objectively investigate the nature of subjective, consciousness, conscious experience. I ...
*
Identity Identity may refer to: * Identity document * Identity (philosophy) * Identity (social science) * Identity (mathematics) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Identity'' (1987 film), an Iranian film * ''Identity'' (2003 film), an ...
: in particular, the
Ship of Theseus The Ship of Theseus, also known as Theseus's Paradox, is a paradox and a common thought experiment about whether an object is the same object after having all of its original components replaced over time, typically one after the other. In Gre ...
paradox *
Russell's paradox In mathematical logic, Russell's paradox (also known as Russell's antinomy) is a set-theoretic paradox published by the British philosopher and mathematician, Bertrand Russell, in 1901. Russell's paradox shows that every set theory that contains ...
* ''I think, therefore I am'': similar idea from
René Descartes René Descartes ( , ; ; 31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650) was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, widely considered a seminal figure in the emergence of modern philosophy and Modern science, science. Mathematics was paramou ...


References

{{Douglas Hofstadter 2007 non-fiction books Science books Cognitive science literature Books by Douglas Hofstadter Basic Books books Self