Douglas Hofstadter

American physicist, computer scientist and professor of cognitive science · United States · On the map · Scientists · Born 1945 · age 81

Douglas Richard Hofstadter is an American cognitive and computer scientist whose research includes concepts such as the sense of self in relation to the external world, consciousness, analogy-making, strange loops, ambigrams, artificial intelligence, and discovery in mathematics and physics.

Douglas Hofstadter is read about 441 times a day, in 30 languages.

A typical day, 30 days to 6 November 2026

The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 104 days, one point a day.

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A life in dates

2018Albertus-Magnus professorateAward2011Barwise PrizeAwardHonorary Doctor of the Cergy-Pontoise UniversityAward2007“I am not shooting at immortality through my books, no. Nor do I think Chopin was shooting at immortality through his music.”In their wordsSeptember 2007Originally published, in Hebrew, in the online culture magazine "Haayal Hakore". (September 2007)Read the whole statement

“If the meanings of true and false were switched, this sentence wouldn't be false.”In their wordsI Am a Strange Loop (2007) p. 68Read the whole statement

1983“Irrationality is the square root of all evil.”In their wordsSeptember 1983"Irrationality is the Square Root of All Evil" (Sep, 1983) Scientific American 249 (3) article reprinted in Metamagical Themas (1985)Read the whole statement

1981“Which statement seems more true: (1) I have a brain. (2) I am a brain.”In their wordsThe Mind's I with Daniel C. Dennett (1981)Read the whole statement

1980National Book AwardAwardPulitzer Prize for General NonfictionAward1979“Perhaps the most concise summary of enlightenment would be: transcending dualism.”In their wordsChapter 9: "Mumon and Gödel"Read the whole statement

“Below Every Tangled Hierarchy Lies An Inviolate Level”In their wordsChapter 20: "Strange Loops Or Tangled Hierarchies"Read the whole statement

1945Born15 February 1945

People around Douglas

Also in Deutsch

Media & music

Photos 4

Autograph by Douglas Hofstadter, 2007

Musings on the Rainbow Ambigram, Douglas Hofstadter's mirror design featuring the names of the seven rainbow colors, followed by a perceptual shift ambigram "2006" / "Doug", fusion of the date and his signature.[32]

Hofstadter in Bologna, Italy, in 2002

In their own words 4

Douglas Hofstadter

4 statements, newest first

Solomon: Your entry in Wikipedia says that your work has inspired many students to begin careers in computing and artificial intelligence.
1 April 2007 · New York Times, 2007-04-01, Own words
In fact, a sense of essence is, in essence, the essence of sense, in effect.
1985 · Metamagical Themas (1985), Own words
Relying on words to lead you to the truth is like relying on an incomplete formal system to lead you to the truth.
1979 · Chapter 9: "Mumon and Gödel", Own words

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Awards

Albertus-Magnus professorate2018

Barwise Prize2011

Honorary Doctor of the Cergy-Pontoise University2011

Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction1980

National Book Award1980

Guggenheim Fellowship

Fellow of the Cognitive Science Society

Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

About this person

His 1979 book Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid won the Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction, and a National Book Award for Science. His 2007 book I Am a Strange Loop won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Science and Technology.

Country

United States