Douglas Hofstadter - I Am a Strange Loop

projectory, see episodic

Prokofiev, Sergei; piano concerto #3; violin concerto #1

“pro-lifer-ate”

pronouns: as embodying default assumptions; as self-referential devices; used in text in unusual manner; see also indexicality

pronoun conventions: as reflecting degree of souledness; as reflecting one’s beliefs about identity; as reinforcing naïve ideas of identity; in violation of naïve ideas of identity

proof in geology

proof in mathematics; assumed equivalence to truth; unclear nature of; vs. computer searches

provable formulas of PM (theorems); always true

Provable-KG Scenario; assumed; not believed by KG; shown wrong

pseudo-memories as valid memories

psychological continuity

psychopaths, violent, as low-huneker beings

pulsating patterns in video feedback

puns, tested out

purpleness, experience of

Pushkin, Alexander

pushovers, naïve (author and reader alike)

putting on and taking off someone else’s style

Q

Q (the product of all prime numbers)

Qéé Dzhii, numerologist in Prince Hyppia

qualia, as ineffable, primordial experiences; toilets and; as usual sine qua non for consciousness

Quandary, The

quantum electrodynamics

quantum-mechanical collisions as ultimate reality

quantum mechanics, development of

quarks

Quine, Willard Van Orman

Quine’s analogy for Gödel’s construction

Quine’s Quasi-Quip and Quine’s Quip; yielding self-referential sentence

quotation marks: analogous to taking Gödel numbers; proper use of; questionable use of; in self-referential sentences; shades of gray for

R

Racecar Power ® , as optional

Rachmaninoff, Sergei

radar

radicals

rainbow, as metaphor for “I”-ness

random glitches in mathematics

randomness of physical world but not of math

randomness of simm-level activity in careenium

ranking of creatures’ “value”

Rattner, Justin

Ravel, Maurice

raw sensation, see qualia, experience

reachable vs. non-reachable integers

Reagan, Ronald

reality: blurriness of; as determined by perception; dubious, of where one is located; grounding of; of higher-level view of living organisms; of “I”, tacitly presumed by average person; levels of; macroscopic patterns as “realest” level of; of pixel patterns on screen; sorting-out of

reasoning, mechanization of

reasonless pattern in mathematics

Reasons and Persons (Parfit)

reasons behind patterns

reception vs. perception

recursive rules: with outputs always larger than inputs; with outputs possibly smaller than inputs

recursively defined sets of formulas

recursively defined sets of integers

red and blue sensations, flipping of

red spot in Exploratorium

reductionism’s lack of respect for spatiotemporal boundaries

reductionist view: of careenium; of dog traits; of gas; hopeless complexity of; of video feedback; see also boundaries

Reductionist View (of Derek Parfit)

reference, as always mediated by analogy; direct vs. indirect, as matter of degree

reflexes vs. consciousness

regrouping as strategy in pattern-hunting

regularities in macroworld; in mathematics, as always having reasons

relativity

reliable macroscopic phenomena taken for granted

religion, as cause for war

remote events as causes

repertoires of symbols; as determinant of size of self; in dogs; extensibility of, in human minds; in mosquitoes; and representational universality

Replicator inside Teletransporter

representational universality of human brains

resonance frequency in audio feedback

resonance in personality space with others

resurrection of departed, in souls of living

reverberant barking

reverberant parking lot

reverence: for Bach; for life

rhyming prose

rhythmic prose

Richard, Jules

riddles about the Capitalized Essence of Consciousness

“right stuff ” vs. “wrong stuff ”: Searle’s refrain; as substrate of consciousness

ripples: as represented in symbols in brain; sent out and returning

Roberts, Lamar

robots: consciousness of; controlled by joysticks; engaged in collective honking orgy; location of body vs. location of “brain”; platoon of many clones, as all lifeless; transmitting perceptions to remote brain

robot vehicles; honking at each other; souls of

Rodgers, Richard

roller coaster: confused with baseball game; in movie theater

roman à clef

romantic situations, analogy between

Roosevelt, Eleanor

rope, swinging, unconsciousness of

Rosser, Kathleen

rouge means “blue”

Rovereto, Italy

R2-D2 (robot)

rubber-band brains

ruby found in the Caspian Sea

rules of inference; analogous to rules in recursive definitions; careful design of; ignoring all meaning; mirrored by computational rules; producing shorter output strings than input strings

running despite pain

running out of primes

Russell, Bertrand: banishing self-reference; banning self-containing sets; blindsided by Gödel’s insights; conceding there is meaning in PM formulas; denying there is meaning in PM formulas; employing self-referential language; formalizing reasoning; as paranoiac paradoxophobe; repelled by self-reference; second-worst nightmare; seeing only one level of meaning for PM strings; seemingly unaware of self-referential sentences in Principia Mathematica ; unaware of integers’ universality; as whiteheaded alien from Ukia; worst nightmare

Russellian meaning of KG, see lower-level meaning

S

“s” (symbol in PM )

Sabatini, Silvia (lap-loop person “B”)

sacred cows, killing of

sacred vs. profane; Schweitzer on

Sadat, Anwar

Sagan, Françoise

Sallows, Lee

Sanskrit

Santa Claus, deconstructing of

sardines, see herrings

Sardinian pig roast

saucy (non-prim) numbers; preferred to prim numbers by Qéé Dzhii; recognized by Göru

saxophones and sassafras trees

Scanner inside Teletransporter

scarlet sardine

Schank, Roger

schism perceived between goal-lacking and goal-possessing entities

Schrödinger, Erwin

Schweitzer, Albert; Bach and; guns and; Günsbach and; as musician; rare compassion of; reverential style of, as Bach organist; on sacred vs. profane

science-fiction thought experiments; as liberating

Scientific American

scientific viewpoint as correct but too complex

Scriabin, Alexander

Searle, John

second meaning lurking in first meaning

secondary meaning of KG, see higher-level meaning

secondary swirl, as diluted “I” in another’s brain

seeds, in recursive definitions

seeing out from another’s viewpoint

seeing straight through pixels to events

self: inner layers of; middle layers of; outer layers of; reality of; as union of two half-selves

self-affirming formula

Self-Analysis (Horney)

self-awareness, limited: of children; of dogs; of robot vehicles

self-confidence vs. self-doubt

self-delusion as part of self-symbol

self-destruction of audio feedback system

self-inventorying sentences

selflessness; and soul-full-ness

self-perception; of dogs; of humans; of mosquitoes; naturalness of; of robot vehicles

self-reference: banishment of; as cause for PM ’s incompleteness; centrality of, in life; essential; as innocuous; of Principia Mathematica ; via reference to clone; seemingly direct but actually indirect; as spelled out by Gödel; without indexicality; without infinite regress