Christ Junior College

I am a strange loop / (Record no. 28706)

000 -LEADER
fixed length control field 04002cam a2200277 a 4500
001 - CONTROL NUMBER
control field 15024838
005 - DATE AND TIME OF LATEST TRANSACTION
control field 20110402115259.0
008 - FIXED-LENGTH DATA ELEMENTS--GENERAL INFORMATION
fixed length control field 070927s2007 nyuaf b 001 0 eng c
020 ## - INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BOOK NUMBER
International Standard Book Number 9780465030781
040 ## - CATALOGING SOURCE
Original cataloging agency DDC
082 ## - DEWEY DECIMAL CLASSIFICATION NUMBER
Edition number 22
Classification number 126
Item number HOF
100 1# - MAIN ENTRY--PERSONAL NAME
Personal name Hofstadter, Douglas R.,
Dates associated with a name 1945-
9 (RLIN) 1369
245 10 - TITLE STATEMENT
Title I am a strange loop /
Statement of responsibility, etc Douglas Hofstadter.
260 ## - PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, ETC. (IMPRINT)
Place of publication, distribution, etc New York :
Name of publisher, distributor, etc Basic Books,
Date of publication, distribution, etc c2007.
300 ## - PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Extent xix, 412 p., [4] p. of plates :
Other physical details ill. (some col.) ;
Dimensions 25 cm.
500 ## - GENERAL NOTE
General note What do we mean when we say "I"? Can thought arise out of matter? Can a self, a soul, a consciousness, an "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. Deep down, a human brain is a chaotic seething soup of particles, on a higher level it is a jungle of neurons, and on a yet higher level it is a network of abstractions that we call "symbols." The most central and complex symbol in your brain or mine is the one we both call "I." The "I" is the nexus in our brain where the levels feed back into each other and flip causality upside down, with symbols seeming to have free will and to have gained the paradoxical ability to push particles around, rather than the reverse. For each human being, this "I" seems to be the realest thing in the world. But how can such 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 all-powerful laws of physics? These are the mysteries tackled in I Am a Strange Loop, Douglas R. Hofstadter's first book-length journey into philosophy since Godel, Escher, Bach. Compulsively readable and endlessly thought-provoking, this is the book Hofstadter's many readers have long been waiting for.
505 0# - FORMATTED CONTENTS NOTE
Formatted contents note Preface: an author and his book -- An affable locking of horns -- On souls and their sizes -- This teetering bulb of dread and dream -- The causal potency of patterns -- Loops, goals, and loopholes -- On video feedback -- Of selves and symbols -- The epi phenomenon -- Embarking on a strange-loop safari -- Pattern and provability -- Gödel's quintessential strange loop -- How analogy makes meaning -- On downward causality -- The elusive apple of my "I" -- Strangeness in the "I" of the beholder -- Entwinement -- Grappling with the deepest mystery -- How we live in each other -- The blurry glow of human identity -- Consciousness = thinking -- A courteous crossing of words -- A brief brush with Cartesian egos -- A tango with zombies and dualism -- Killing a couple of sacred cows -- On magnanimity and friendship -- Epilogue: the quandary.
520 ## - SUMMARY, ETC.
Summary, etc Hofstadter's long-awaited return to the themes of Gödel, Escher, Bach--an original and controversial view of the nature of consciousness and identity. What do we mean when we say "I"? Can a self, a soul, a consciousness, an "I" arise out of mere matter? If it cannot, then how can you or I be here? This book argues that the key to understanding selves and consciousness is a special kind of abstract feedback loop inhabiting our brains. Deep down, a human brain is a chaotic soup of particles, on a higher level it is a jungle of neurons, and on a yet higher level it is a network of abstractions that we call "symbols." The most central and complex symbol in your brain or mine is the one we both call "I." But how can such a mysterious abstraction be real--or is our "I" merely a convenient fiction?--From publisher description.
650 #0 - SUBJECT ADDED ENTRY--TOPICAL TERM
Topical term or geographic name as entry element Philosophy
650 #0 - SUBJECT ADDED ENTRY--TOPICAL TERM
Topical term or geographic name as entry element Consciousness.
9 (RLIN) 1370
650 #0 - SUBJECT ADDED ENTRY--TOPICAL TERM
Topical term or geographic name as entry element Intellect.
9 (RLIN) 562
650 #0 - SUBJECT ADDED ENTRY--TOPICAL TERM
Topical term or geographic name as entry element Soul.
9 (RLIN) 1371
942 ## - ADDED ENTRY ELEMENTS (KOHA)
Source of classification or shelving scheme
Item type [BK]
Holdings
Withdrawn status Lost status Source of classification or shelving scheme Materials specified (bound volume or other part) Damaged status Not for loan Collection code Permanent location Current location Shelving location Date acquired Cost, normal purchase price Total Checkouts Full call number Barcode Date last seen Date last borrowed Price effective from Koha item type
      HB     Stack Room Shelf Christ Junior College Christ Junior College ->General Stacks 2011-04-02 450.00 5 126 HOF 00014233 2024-03-21 2015-08-10 2011-04-02 [BK]