i started reading it, pretty interesting shit but i ran out of time to read it. its really a book for maths people
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Anonymous2009-07-13 4:04
I started reading it a few weeks ago. I read about 150 pages, set it down, and have yet to pick it back up again, but I intend to finish it. It's fairly interesting and can be quite entertaining and informing.
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Anonymous2009-07-13 20:43
I'm currently reading it. Hofstadter is a good writter, so of course it is an interesting read.
I am however stuck at an early Typographical Number Theory chapter, at about page 220. TNT is new to me, from the exercises in the book alone, I can't really get a good grasp of it.
Because of this, I've been reluctant to keep on reading, and the book has been on the shelf for some weeks.
Anyone got a good introduction site to TNT, or should I keep on reading and just let Hofstadter solve the problems for me?
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Anonymous2009-07-13 20:43
I'm currently reading it. Hofstadter is a good writter, so of course it is an interesting read.
I am however stuck at an early Typographical Number Theory chapter, at about page 220. TNT is new to me, from the exercises in the book alone, I can't really get a good grasp of it.
Because of this, I've been reluctant to keep on reading, and the book has been on the shelf for some weeks.
Anyone got a good introduction site to TNT, or should I keep on reading and just let Hofstadter solve the problems for me?
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Anonymous2009-07-14 4:16
I read the beginning. It was fun, but I actually had it for my brother to read, so I had to stop there. I look forward to reading it at some point. I'm ass-deep in books right now.
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Anonymous2009-07-14 11:19
It's really good. I like his ideas on artificial intelligence and consciousness. It is definitely worth the read, i recommend it to everyone.
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Anonymous2009-07-20 4:43
as a math/logic student, a majority of the math/logic topics discussed seemed like odd dumbed-down presentations, so if you've learned about stuff like formal systems, goedel's theorems, and such before, it'll seem kind of silly in parts. generally it's interesting and he writes well, so it's ok. if you don't know any of that stuff yet, it's a decent introduction to the concepts involved, and the presentation will keep you from boring yourself to death if you aren't enthralled by the content.
"typographical number theory" is something doc hoffie made up for the book. it's his presentation of formal arithmetic. set theory and mathematical logic books would cover the topics with more traditional presentation and in greater detail. for an extra-light intro to this sort of stuff, symbolic logic is probably where you'd want to start, just to get familiar with the idea of the way things work in formal systems (direct, careful application of rules)
by the last chapter or two of the book i didn't feel like reading any more, and literally stopped in the middle of a paragraph and haven't opened it since, but I recommended the book to a bunch of friends along the way anyway, and would still recommend it now, despite not planning to finish the last bit (some stuff about AI. I generally find AI stuff interesting, but it just felt too much like random speculation from some dude in the 70s). my recommendation is mostly based on my feelings that it is a nice way to trick my friends into reading about math concepts i find interesting.
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Anonymous2009-08-07 11:01
It's good and entertaining, but if you want something like it but more mathematical and formal then read Shadows of the Mind by Penrose.
Hofstadter is an overrated and pretentious moron. He's as insightful as a 14-year-old with a stack of his dad's reference books, but he makes the dumbshit masses feel smart, so it's popular.