Introduction snags and snarls on self referential sentences self referential sentences. It is, to borrow from the title of the first essay, a selfreferential book, selfconscious to a degree that will charm many and irritate others. Selfreference the art and popular culture encyclopedia. On viral sentences and self replicating structures 4. The skeptical inquirer versus the national enquirer on number numbness changes in default words and images, engendered by rising. The biographers account of the poets life was surprisingly selfreferential. Hofstadter talks about selfreferential sentences in geb and mt metamag. On self referential sentences self referential sentences. Sometimes indexicals are selfreferential, but sometimes they. Jul 15, 20 i seem to recall some of these posted coming from douglas hofstadter or at least reprinted by him, but here are some more. It appeared in douglas hofstadters scientific american column metamagical themas, and was later reprinted in the book collecting his columns. Two years ago, when i first wrote about selfreferential sentences in. You can learn about self referential sentences and godels incompleteness theorems and much besides from douglas hofstadter and raymond smullyans classic books. This sentence is meaningless because it is self referential.
Hofstadter s law, which specifies that it always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account hofstadter s law is an example of a. If a brain can become selfconscious through selfreferential processes, he thought, perhaps a computer can too. In this stanza, hofstadter not only translates the form and content, but also wonderfully conveys pushkins own jocular, familiar first and secondperson banter both poet and reader are characters here, and the metaliterary and selfreferential aspects of his work which were downright hofstadterian to. Hofstadter illustrates with his figures how all three abilities above are combined to understand selfreferential sentences. Aug 15, 2001 metamagical themas covers the following topics, among others. If you describe something such as a book or film as selfreferential, you mean that it. To be sure of understanding this concept, try writing your own self referential sentences. The second of these has always confused me, because it sure sounds as if the song is at least in part about the person its addressed to, so why is he vain to think its about him.
If a brain can become self conscious through self referential processes, he thought, perhaps a computer can too. This sentence raises a serious objection to the entire class of selfreferential sentences that merely comment on their own function or placement within the story e. Thit sentence is not self referential because thit is not a word. I would also make it clear that i am talking about myself, not a fictional construct. Selfreference, computation, and mind ben goertzd and harold bowman 1. In this stanza, hofstadter not only translates the form and content, but also wonderfully conveys pushkins own jocular, familiar first and secondperson banter both poet and reader are characters here, and the metaliterary and selfreferential aspects of his work which were downright hofstadterian to begin with. Here are two rather extreme examples of selfreferential usemention play. The term quine was coined by douglas hofstadter in his book godel escher. And indeed, it is impossible to come away from this.
I had to translate this sentence into english because i could not read the original sanskrit. Furthermore, his famous book has been directly spoofed in the title of 24. Douglass hofstadters pi in the sky the washington post. Here are some variations on the epimenides paradox. Cette phrase en francais est difficile a traduire en anglais. Its challenging to make a self referential sentence without saying this sentence. Selfreference, computation, and mind sciencedirect. Selfreference occurs in natural or formal languages when a sentence, idea or formula refers to. Introduction douglas hofstadter 1985 has argued that selfreferential sentences illustrate many of the key properties of complex dynamical systems, in particular psychological systems. Hofstadter illustrates with his figures how all three abilities above are combined to understand self referential sentences. When you are not looking at it, this sentence is in spanish. Apr 21, 1985 indeed, the book goes further than did the original columns, self referential enough though they may be, by adding to each chapter a passage summarizing readers comments, mr. Pulitzerprize winner douglas hofstadter takes on some weighty and wonderful questions in i am a strange loopamong them, the size of a soul and the vagaries of thoughtand proposes persuasive answers that surprised me both with their simplicity and their sense of optimism. Selfreference occurs in natural or formal languages when a sentence, idea or formula refers to itself.
The title of abbie hoffmans steal this book is selfreferential douglas hofstadters godel, escher, bach uses selfreferencing mathematical formal language and english natural language sentences, pictures m. This sentence contradicts itselfor ratherwell, no, actually it do. Hofstadter is best known for his earlier book godel, escher, bach. He argues that this is the same kind of structure which gives rise to consciousness, the sense of i, in the. Selfreferential definition and meaning collins english. Many are from books of douglas hofstadter or from the newsgroup alt. Breaking logic with selfreferential sentences james propp. I originally planned to get to the hofstadters law d. An example of a self referential situation is the one of autopoiesis, as the logical organization produces itself the physical structure which creates itself in metaphysics, self reference is subjectivity, while heteroreference, as it is called see niklas luhmann, is objectivity. The sentence the sentence contains five words contains five words. The term was first used in print in 1979 in douglas hofstadters book godel, escher, bach.
The topic was explored in depth in douglas hofstadters metamagical themas column in scientific american and subsequent book by the same title. An eternal golden braid, in which hofstadter invents the acronym god, meaning god over djinn, to help explain infinite series, and describes it as a recursive acronym. Hofstadter has been referenced before, in the title text of 555. Examples of how to use referential in a sentence from the cambridge dictionary labs. I am a strange loop is thoughtful, amusing and infectiously enthusiastic.
Selfreference, autograms and autological words puzzlewocky. In this case the feature is a self referential joke, and the sentence itself is, correctly, self referential. It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account hofstadter s law, and meaning lies as much in the mind of the reader as in the haiku. This sentence i am now writing is the sentence you are now reading. This is the title of this story literature tv tropes. Selfreference is often used in a broader context as well.
An example of a selfreferential situation is the one of autopoiesis, as the logical organization produces itself the physical structure which creates itself in metaphysics, selfreference is subjectivity, while heteroreference, as it is called see niklas luhmann, is objectivity. A followup on viral sentences and selfreplicating structures nomic. The anthology was published in 1985 by basic books the volume is substantial in size and contains extensive notes concerning responses to the articles and other information relevant to their content. This is the title of this story, which is also found several times in the story itself is a 1982 story by david moser composed of selfreferential sentences. Quines paradox is a paradox concerning truth values, stated by willard van orman quine. Eschers dragon for example, and music bachs fugues to convey the concept and its recursive nature. It turns out that an eerie type of chaos can lurk just behind a facade of order and yet, deep inside the chaos lurks an even eerier type of order. The original selfreferential sentence is, this sentence is false, which also creates a paradox. List of hofstadter s metamagical themas columns from january 1957 through december 1980, martin gardner s mathematical games column was a monthly feature in scientific american magazine.
Hofstadter, who nows holds the appropriately broad walgreen chair in human understanding at the u. Selfreferential definition of selfreferential by the. Self reference is often used in a broader context as well. Nov 17, 2016 7 thoughts on breaking logic with selfreferential sentences john baez november 17, 2016 at 10. A dialogue in which godels selfreferential construction is mirrored in words.
This dialogue serves as a prototype for the next chapter. Once we properly analyze this sort of selfreference, according to those philosophers, the. Hofstadter talks about self referential sentences in geb and mt metamag. This sentence refers to itself, and is therefore useless. On selfreferential sentences selfreferential sentences. No language can express every thought unambiguously, least of all this one. Long contents list of illustrations notes on the cover introduction. This sentence raises a serious objection to the entire class of self referential sentences that merely comment on their own function or placement within the story e. Selfreferentiality definition of selfreferentiality by. This is the title of this story, which is also found several times in the story itself, by david moser. Self referential sentences simple ones like this sentence contains five words, paradoxical ones like this sentence is false, self documenting sentences which tally how many of each letter of the alphabet they contain, and a story composed entirely of self referential sentences.
Recalling these childhood adventures, hofstadter was transported by the same enthusiasm that animates his writings. That is, the following sentences are selfreferential, but only because they have an indexical. In 1981, gardners column alternated with a new column by hofstadter called metamagical themas an anagram of mathematical games. To be sure of understanding this concept, try writing your own selfreferential sentences. In the book the puzzle appears in the following form.
A self modifying game based on reflexivity in law sense and society world views in collision. Mar 26, 2018 if i were to write a sentence that was self referential, i would start by using the first person perspective like i have in this sentence. Selfreferential humor, also known as selfreflexive humor or meta humor, is a type of comedic expression thateither directed toward some other subject, or openly directed toward itselfintentionally alludes to the very person who is expressing the humor in a comedic fashion, or to some specific aspect of that same comedic expression. If you describe something such as a book or film as self referential, you mean that it. For instance, a picture could be considered self referential if it contains a copy of itself see the animated image above. Hofstadters strange loop metaphysics attempts to map consciousness onto selfreference, but is. A recursive acronym is an acronym that refers to itself.
Hofstadter s strange loop metaphysics attempts to map consciousness onto self reference, but is a minority position in philosophy of mind. The ability to handle the case when referential words point to itself. Selfreferential definition of selfreferential by the free. A playful look at attempts to solve the problems of paradox and self reference, by tim maly self referential. It is, to borrow from the title of the first essay, a self referential book, self conscious to a degree that will charm many and irritate others. Other references followed, however the concept was used as early as 1968 in. In this sentence the number of occurrences of 1 is 2, of 2 is 3, of 3 is 2, of 4 is 1. Lest you form a self defeating impression that thinking up self referential sentences is an exclusive pastime of self indulgent mathematicians, ill cite from a small book by william safire. More polymathic razzledazzle from the author of godel, escher, bach 1979, the virtuoso with all the intellectual virtues except measure. Nov 16, 2000 douglas hofstadter presented some self referential sentences in his book metamagical themas, but with an emphasis on numbers and how to construct them, such as this one. Here are a few more examples of paradoxical selfreferential sentences. It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account hofstadters law, and meaning lies as much in the mind of the reader as in the haiku.
If selfreference, or what douglas hofstadter whose prolific work on the subject matter. The reference may be expressed either directlythrough some intermediate sentence or formulaor by means of some encoding. For instance, a picture could be considered selfreferential if it contains a copy of itself see the animated image above. This selfreferential, true sentence is a variant of a puzzle attributed to the logician raphael robinson, popularized in douglas hofstadters book metamagical themas. A more recent novelistic treatment, focusing on the lives and deaths of kurt godel and alan turing, is janna levin s book.
Hofstadters preoccupation with selfreferential verbal sentences becomes clear, and nobody will be surprised that he goes on to explain how lisp can be used. This sentence claims to be an epimenides paradox, but it is lying. A selfmodifying game based on reflexivity in law section ii. Selfreference and apparent selfreference princeton cs. Thit sentence is not selfreferential because thit is not a word. The title of the book says that consciousness is tied to selfrepresentation, the. Metamagical themas is an eclectic collection of articles that douglas hofstadter wrote for the popular science magazine scientific american during the early 1980s. A selfreferential column about last januarys column about selfreference. We got selfreference without the use of an indexical such as the word this.
A self modifying game based on reflexivity in law section ii. An example of a selfreferential situation is the one of selfcreation, as the logical organization produces itself the physical structure which creates itself. Douglas hofstadter s books, especially metamagical themas and godel, escher, bach, play with many self referential concepts and were highly influential in bringing them into mainstream intellectual culture during the 1980s. In this sentence, the number of occurences of 0 is 1, of 1 is 11, of 2 is 2, of 3 is 1, of 4 is 1, of 5 is 1, of 6 is 1, of 7 is 1, of 8 is 1, and of 9 is 1. Bloomberg news i am a strange loop is vintage hofstadter. Please, oh please, publish me in your collection of selfreferential sentences. In this stanza, hofstadter not only translates the form and content, but also wonderfully conveys pushkins own jocular, familiar first and secondperson banter both poet and reader are characters here, and the metaliterary and self referential aspects of his work which were downright hofstadterian to begin with. I seem to recall some of these posted coming from douglas hofstadter or at least reprinted by him, but here are some more. An eternal golden braid, a huge volume packed with ingenious observations about the products of the working of the. Eschers dragon for example, and music bachs fugues to. A followup on viral sentences and self replicating structures nomic. And asimovll sign anything, hardbacks, softbacks, other peoples books, scraps of paper. Lest you form a selfdefeating impression that thinking up selfreferential sentences is an exclusive pastime of selfindulgent mathematicians, ill cite from a small book by william safire.
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