Gödel, Escher, Bach: Introduction

Immediately upon starting Göodel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R. Hofstadter, I knew this was going to be a goliath of a book to finish. For this reason, I have decided to upload my thoughts in parts. 

What I have gleaned from the introduction is that this book is going to be an examination of knowledge from the perspectives of mathematics (logic), infinite artwork, and music. 

The Canon is a form of music in which the stated theme is repeated in many different ways; I modeled an example given in the book using Online Sequencer: https://onlinesequencer.net/4807786 

The tune of Good King Wenceslas is the stated theme, found in the treble line. The base line is formed through an inversion of the theme that is delayed by two beats. Maybe it’s just a coincidence of how online sequencer is built, but I find the cyclical motion of this canon interesting. It is impossible to designate a beginning or end because of the two beat delay. But basically, this musical technique is used to create an interesting and unfamiliar version of Good King Wenceslas that is also pleasing to the ear. 

I also find Escher’s optical illusions fascinating: 

The one shown here is called Ascending and Descending, and it is shown in the book. First of all, this artwork reminds me of Borges labyrinthine short stories. GEB’s exploration of cyclical ideas seems foundational to the thesis of this book, and I feel like in my mind, the title is missing an extra B for Borges. Anyways, I hope literature is explored further. Secondly, I am appalled and offended on the behalf of Escher that the cover of R.F. Kuang’s (my author opponent) new book, Katabasis, echoes this art. You can expect my opinions on that as soon as the book comes out, because since reviewing Babel, my dislike of her work has only grown.

Mathematical concepts seem to also be an important part of GEB, and I find the idea of ‘Strange Loops’ interesting. It is the inevitable conundrum that comes out of imperfect language systems and limited human capabilities of thought and perspective. Personally, I’m fine with accepting the existence of the paradoxes GEB describes (unlike the Principia Mathematica), but the thought experiments are interesting nonetheless. 

Reading this kind of book will probably take months, so expect this to be a long running series! Also, I feel like I couldn’t possibly give this book a rating. It feels more like essential reading.