I know I sound like and annoying convert, but I Am a Strange Loop, a book of philosophy by Richard Hoffstadter (the author of Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid), was a fairly mind-blowing and life-changing experience for me. As one who’s attempted to read his earlier landmark work (GEB) a number of times and failed each time, I was happy to find that this new book is a reworking of the same core thesis, made clearer and more succinct.
Why was it so special? Well, Hoffstadter provides a wonderful way to understand how we think of our selves (and he explains that the title of the book is more correct as "I Is a Strange Loop"), how we have consciousness, and how we internalize other people. He's not working at the bio- or electro-chemical level, but at the epistemological and philosophical level. If you've ever been fascinated and confounded by the question, "Why am I me?", then this is the book for you.
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Reading is one of the great pleasures of my daily life; so is music. In these virtual pages, I will be describing the books and music that inspire, entertain, and educate me. I hope they prove useful for you.
–David F. W. Robison, MLIS
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