{"product_id":"i-am-a-strange-loop-paperback","title":"I Am a Strange Loop - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eDouglas R. Hofstadter\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eOne of our greatest philosophers and scientists of the mind examines where the self comes from - and how our selves can exist in the minds of others. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"\u003ci\u003eI Am a Strange Loop\u003c\/i\u003e is a work of rigorous thinking, but it's also an extraordinary tribute to the memory of romantic love:  \u003ci\u003eThe Year of Magical Thinking\u003c\/i\u003e for mathematicians.\" ―\u003ci\u003eTime\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Deep down, your 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 is the one you call \"I.\" An \"I\" is a strange loop where the brain's symbolic and physical levels feed back into each other and flip causality upside down so that symbols seem to have gained the paradoxical ability to push particles around, rather than the reverse. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e To each human being, this \"I\" is the realest thing in the world. But how can such a mysterious abstraction be real? Is our \"I\" merely a convenient fiction? Does \"I\" exert genuine power over the particles in our brain, or is it helplessly pushed around by the all-powerful laws of physics? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e These are among the mysteries tackled in \u003ci\u003eI Am a Strange Loop\u003c\/i\u003e, Douglas Hofstadter's first book-length journey into philosophy since his Pulitzer Prize-winning Gödel, Escher, Bach. It is a tale crisply told, rife with anecdotes, analogies, and metaphors - cutting-edge philosophy that any strange loop can understand.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDouglas R. Hofstadter\u003c\/b\u003e is College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of Cognitive Science and Comparative Literature at Indiana University, Bloomington. He is the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning \u003ci\u003eGödel, Escher, Bach\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eMetamagical Themas\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eFluid Concepts and Creative Analogies\u003c\/i\u003e; \"Translator, Trader\"; and most recently, \u003ci\u003eAmbigrammia: Between Creation and Discovery\u003c\/i\u003e.  He translated Alexander Pushkin's novel-in-verse \u003ci\u003eEugene Onegin \u003c\/i\u003efrom Russian verse into English verse, and has also translated books from several other languages into English.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 436\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.14 x 9.08 x 6.19 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e July 08, 2008\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53056304152800,"sku":"9780465030798","price":24.63,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0811\/5909\/4496\/files\/v6PcS6c6yb9780465030798.webp?v=1781358765","url":"https:\/\/improvedinc.myshopify.com\/products\/i-am-a-strange-loop-paperback","provider":"Improved Improper Input Inc.","version":"1.0","type":"link"}