I read Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid, in 1986 when it was given to me by a friend. Optimistically, I might claim to have understood two thirds of it, but realistically, that might shrink down to merely half, but the parts I DID understand had a profound effect on how I conceive the concept of knowledge and the systems humans create in order to acquire, analyze and understand it.
Originally published in 1979, author Douglas Hofstadter utilizes theoretical similes between the works of logician Kurt Gödel, artist M. C. Escher, and composer Johann Sebastian Bach, to delve into the abstract world of theoretical systems, how they function, their limitations and ways to construct them. I know it all sounds very academic, but Hofstadter does ground the book in numerous very engaging and entertaining allegories which illustrate his points and alternate between the more abstruse theoretical jargon.
I'll confess the more mathematically grounded aspects of Gödel were the most difficult to fathom, but the musical theories around Bach and the perceptual concepts inherent in the work of Escher did manage to find their way into my comprehension. Ultimately, the book helped me to understand the limitations of logical systems, not in the sense of invalidating or disparaging them, but in terms of being able to comprehend that, while they are exceedingly useful, there are always limits where consciousness must go beyond them into more intangible realms.
One of my favorite allegories involved a stereo system capable of reproducing sound so accurately, that it created a self destructive feedback loop which, ultimately, resulted in the collapse of the system. It's illustrations like that which captured my imagination and made it clear that one must be cautious about becoming too attached to any particular system as there is no such thing as a perfect theory. There are always areas of the the unknown yet to be discovered and there are always possibilities of recursions and feedback loops which can destabilize even the most apparently comprehensive systems.
Originally published in 1979, author Douglas Hofstadter utilizes theoretical similes between the works of logician Kurt Gödel, artist M. C. Escher, and composer Johann Sebastian Bach, to delve into the abstract world of theoretical systems, how they function, their limitations and ways to construct them. I know it all sounds very academic, but Hofstadter does ground the book in numerous very engaging and entertaining allegories which illustrate his points and alternate between the more abstruse theoretical jargon.
I'll confess the more mathematically grounded aspects of Gödel were the most difficult to fathom, but the musical theories around Bach and the perceptual concepts inherent in the work of Escher did manage to find their way into my comprehension. Ultimately, the book helped me to understand the limitations of logical systems, not in the sense of invalidating or disparaging them, but in terms of being able to comprehend that, while they are exceedingly useful, there are always limits where consciousness must go beyond them into more intangible realms.
One of my favorite allegories involved a stereo system capable of reproducing sound so accurately, that it created a self destructive feedback loop which, ultimately, resulted in the collapse of the system. It's illustrations like that which captured my imagination and made it clear that one must be cautious about becoming too attached to any particular system as there is no such thing as a perfect theory. There are always areas of the the unknown yet to be discovered and there are always possibilities of recursions and feedback loops which can destabilize even the most apparently comprehensive systems.
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