Comment by m-hodges
19 hours ago
I read GEB cover to cover and haven’t stopped thinking about it for years. Not a brag, a nudge that it’s not impenetrable and more people should read it.
19 hours ago
I read GEB cover to cover and haven’t stopped thinking about it for years. Not a brag, a nudge that it’s not impenetrable and more people should read it.
I’m working on it every day during lunch break. Good old hardcopy.
GEB is not a difficult read. It is delightful!
It is a popular science book which catches the vibe of mathematical logic in an excellent way. It is not a textbook, nor a piece of research. It's all vibes, but high-quality vibes. If you are in the right headspace it can be really inspiring!
I read it cover to cove back in the day and enjoyed it. But I'm not sure more people should read it today.
If they do and enjoy it, good for them! But many parts haven't aged all that well.
However, I can still very warmly recommend 'The Pleasures of Counting' to this very day.
What hasn't aged well? I don't think any of it is dated to any particular time period.
I had my copy signed by Prof Hofstadter; a treasure to this day. Led to a maths degree, years of organ playing classes, a career in software, and a Zen practice going on 20 years. And I'm pescatarian. I even wrote a few haiku when my babies were little. Hmm, time for another listen to a Tocatta and Fugue.
I read it on my honeymoon 25 years ago. That book sticks with you.
Are you still married?
finally we shall be able to answer the age old question - does Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid stick with you better than a spouse!
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I thought the recommended honeymoon reading was Knuth’s _Surreal Numbers_
It's been years since I cracked open a copy, maybe I should give it another shot.
If you want to get to the meat of the issue, without the extraneous stuff, you might also tackle: Godel's Theorem Simplified.
https://www.amazon.com/Godels-Theorem-Simplified-Harry-Gensl...
The extraneous stuff is honestly fabulous, IMO of course. Just being able to listen to a four part fugue sensibly is a rare but accessible pleasure. And amusing dialogs as an instantiated dialectic for showing the truth synthesized from apparent opposites, is a great pedagogical learning.