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From: rlr@pyuxd.UUCP (Rich Rosen)
Newsgroups: net.sci,net.philosophy
Subject: Re: Helpful vs. Harmful Therapy
Message-ID: <2772@pyuxd.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 20-Mar-86 09:53:23 EST
Article-I.D.: pyuxd.2772
Posted: Thu Mar 20 09:53:23 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 22-Mar-86 04:54:06 EST
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Xref: watmath net.sci:624 net.philosophy:4561
Summary: Really Hofstadter

> Smullyan's latest book is on combinatorial logic.  It's called, To Mock A
> Mockingbird.  If you read enough Smullyan, you begin to see where
> Hofstadter got much of his style and material.
> 
> Meanwhile, Hofstadter, who is now Professor of Cognitive Science
> and Human Understanding at U Mich, has given us two more classics.
> The Mind's I, composed and arranged by Hofstadter and Daniel Dennett,
> brings us to the frontiers of speculation about the mind.  Hof has
> also compiled his Metamagical Themas into a book, with additional
> commentary plus some previously unpublished material.
> 
> Hofstadter is whimsical in his imagery, but deadly serious in his
> quest for deeper understanding.  He is basically a translator who
> takes arcane material and dresses it up for a larger audience.
> Hof is teaching us how to play, be creative, be entertaining,
> and learn to enjoy ourselves as we learn.  I love him. [KORTEX]

At last, a major point of agreement between me and the llama-guy.
Hofstadter's "World Views in Collision:  Skeptical Inquirer vs. National
Enquirer", found originally in SciAm and reproduced in "Metamagical
Themas", should be required reading for every single high school student
in America (and should be read by anyone already out of high school
who hasn't already done so).  One of the most exquisite exposes on the
nature of knowledge and sham I have ever read.  (Religionists especially
should peruse this.)
-- 
Life is complex.  It has real and imaginary parts.
					Rich Rosen  ihnp4!pyuxd!rlr