Douglas Hofstadter
Also known as Douglas R. Hofstadter, Douglas Richard Hofstadter
American cognitive scientist, born 1945; wrote Gödel, Escher, Bach.
At a glance
Main ideas
Strange loops, Consciousness emerges, Analogy …
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Gödel, Escher, Bach, Metamagical Themas, Le Ton beau de Marot …
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Daniel Dennett and Gödel, Escher, Bach
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Also on this page: Key facts · Links · Sources · Related pages
- Hofstadter is a cognitive and computer scientist who studies the self, consciousness, analogy-making and creativity.
- His 1979 book Gödel, Escher, Bach won the Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction.
- He argues that the sense of an "I" is a "strange loop" emerging from lower-level activity in the brain.
- He has taught at Indiana University for most of his career, where he directs the Center for Research on Concepts and Cognition.
Why it matters
- His books made self-reference, minds and machines a popular subject, and his work on analogy remains influential in cognitive science.
Key facts
- Born
- 15 Feb 1945, New York City1
- Education
- Stanford, mathematics with distinction (1965); PhD in physics, University of Oregon (1975)1
- Career
- Indiana University from 1977; University of Michigan from 1984; back at Indiana from 19881
- Position
- College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of Cognitive Science and Comparative Literature, Indiana University; director of the Center for Research on Concepts and Cognition1
- Column
- Metamagical Themas in Scientific American, from 1981 to 1983, succeeding Martin Gardner1
- Physics
- His doctoral work led to the fractal known as Hofstadter's butterfly1
- Honours
- Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award for Gödel, Escher, Bach; Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2009)1
Main ideas
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Strange loops1
The sense of being an "I" is an abstract self-referential pattern in the brain.
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Consciousness emerges1
Consciousness is "an emergent consequence of seething lower-level activity in the brain", like an ant colony.
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Analogy1
Analogy-making is central to thought; with Melanie Mitchell he built the Copycat model of it.
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Hofstadter's law1
"It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's Law."
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Ambigrams1
He coined the word for lettering that reads differently from different orientations.
Books to start with
The line under a date fills as it gets older: empty when new, full at 2 years.
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Self-reference, formal systems and how minds arise.
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Metamagical Themas1
His Scientific American columns and essays.
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Le Ton beau de Marot1
Language and translation, with 88 translations of one short poem.
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I Am a Strange Loop1
A focused account of the self as a strange loop.
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Surfaces and Essences1
With Emmanuel Sander; analogy as the core of thinking.
Connections
Links
Sources
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