Books, books, books!
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I'm thinking about ditching programming and goofing around with the computer in my spare time to read instead. After having (finally) completed Gödel Escher Bach, I am going to buy The Mind's I by the same author (Douglas Hofstadter). I think I've become intrigued by philosofy about the human mind. Does anybody have any more authors / specific books in this "genre"? Artificial intelligence is an area which is very much related to this, but it's not what I seek. I am seeking the philosophical aspects, and not the technical. To tell you the truth, I'm a bit fed up with technology in general. So.. if you have any tips, line them up! -- So let's just walk from place to place, as long as we don't talk face to face.
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I'm thinking about ditching programming and goofing around with the computer in my spare time to read instead. After having (finally) completed Gödel Escher Bach, I am going to buy The Mind's I by the same author (Douglas Hofstadter). I think I've become intrigued by philosofy about the human mind. Does anybody have any more authors / specific books in this "genre"? Artificial intelligence is an area which is very much related to this, but it's not what I seek. I am seeking the philosophical aspects, and not the technical. To tell you the truth, I'm a bit fed up with technology in general. So.. if you have any tips, line them up! -- So let's just walk from place to place, as long as we don't talk face to face.
Jörgen Sigvardsson wrote: I'm thinking about ditching programming and goofing around with the computer in my spare time to read instead. I've been doing that the last year or so - I've rarely programmed outside work, although learning C# has dragged me back in somewhat :-) Jörgen Sigvardsson wrote: Gödel Escher Bach I've been thinking about getting that book. Is it worth the effort? Jörgen Sigvardsson wrote: Does anybody have any more authors / specific books in this "genre" Hmmm. I'd say Robert Pirsig's Zen and The Art Of Motorcycle Maintainence, although I'm not sure if that's exactly in line with what you are looking for. It's certainly worth a read.
Ian Darling "One of the few systems...which has had “no deaths” in the reliability requirements." - Michael Platt
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Jörgen Sigvardsson wrote: I'm thinking about ditching programming and goofing around with the computer in my spare time to read instead. I've been doing that the last year or so - I've rarely programmed outside work, although learning C# has dragged me back in somewhat :-) Jörgen Sigvardsson wrote: Gödel Escher Bach I've been thinking about getting that book. Is it worth the effort? Jörgen Sigvardsson wrote: Does anybody have any more authors / specific books in this "genre" Hmmm. I'd say Robert Pirsig's Zen and The Art Of Motorcycle Maintainence, although I'm not sure if that's exactly in line with what you are looking for. It's certainly worth a read.
Ian Darling "One of the few systems...which has had “no deaths” in the reliability requirements." - Michael Platt
Ian Darling wrote: I've been thinking about getting that book. Is it worth the effort? I believe so. It's given me a lot to think about. I've never thought of the mind and "the self" before as I do now. Ian Darling wrote: Hmmm. I'd say Robert Pirsig's Zen and The Art Of Motorcycle Maintainence, although I'm not sure if that's exactly in line with what you are looking for. It's certainly worth a read. A colleague of mine has read it and recommends it. I've contemplated reading it, but I don't know. I'd rather read some more on "I". :) -- So let's just walk from place to place, as long as we don't talk face to face.
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I'm thinking about ditching programming and goofing around with the computer in my spare time to read instead. After having (finally) completed Gödel Escher Bach, I am going to buy The Mind's I by the same author (Douglas Hofstadter). I think I've become intrigued by philosofy about the human mind. Does anybody have any more authors / specific books in this "genre"? Artificial intelligence is an area which is very much related to this, but it's not what I seek. I am seeking the philosophical aspects, and not the technical. To tell you the truth, I'm a bit fed up with technology in general. So.. if you have any tips, line them up! -- So let's just walk from place to place, as long as we don't talk face to face.
I highly recommend The Tao of Pooh.:-D [EDIT] I forgot to include an old favorite - The Duty of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau. It should be required reading for every child with an IQ over room temperature. [/EDIT] Heard in Bullhead City - "You haven't lost your girl -
you've just lost your turn..." [sigh] So true... -
I'm thinking about ditching programming and goofing around with the computer in my spare time to read instead. After having (finally) completed Gödel Escher Bach, I am going to buy The Mind's I by the same author (Douglas Hofstadter). I think I've become intrigued by philosofy about the human mind. Does anybody have any more authors / specific books in this "genre"? Artificial intelligence is an area which is very much related to this, but it's not what I seek. I am seeking the philosophical aspects, and not the technical. To tell you the truth, I'm a bit fed up with technology in general. So.. if you have any tips, line them up! -- So let's just walk from place to place, as long as we don't talk face to face.
Jörgen Sigvardsson wrote: I've become intrigued by philosofy Really? I just sit on them, never really gave 'em too much thought otherwise... ;P Jörgen Sigvardsson wrote: To tell you the truth, I'm a bit fed up with technology in general. I can identify. Might i suggest comic books? Some nice light philosophizing, and when you get bored you can look at the pictures. :D
--- the work, which will become a new genre unto itself, will be called... -
I'm thinking about ditching programming and goofing around with the computer in my spare time to read instead. After having (finally) completed Gödel Escher Bach, I am going to buy The Mind's I by the same author (Douglas Hofstadter). I think I've become intrigued by philosofy about the human mind. Does anybody have any more authors / specific books in this "genre"? Artificial intelligence is an area which is very much related to this, but it's not what I seek. I am seeking the philosophical aspects, and not the technical. To tell you the truth, I'm a bit fed up with technology in general. So.. if you have any tips, line them up! -- So let's just walk from place to place, as long as we don't talk face to face.
How about John Searle's Minds, Brains and Science ? What a piece of work is man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and admirable . . . and yet to me, what is this quintessence of dust? -- Hamlet, Act II, Scene ii.
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I'm thinking about ditching programming and goofing around with the computer in my spare time to read instead. After having (finally) completed Gödel Escher Bach, I am going to buy The Mind's I by the same author (Douglas Hofstadter). I think I've become intrigued by philosofy about the human mind. Does anybody have any more authors / specific books in this "genre"? Artificial intelligence is an area which is very much related to this, but it's not what I seek. I am seeking the philosophical aspects, and not the technical. To tell you the truth, I'm a bit fed up with technology in general. So.. if you have any tips, line them up! -- So let's just walk from place to place, as long as we don't talk face to face.
GEB is kind of an eye opener isn't it, wonderful book. The Mind's I is also wonderful, as are most Daniel Dennett books, he's the co-author. For example have a look at "Consciousness Explained". Also, for an interesting 'physical' take on these psychological/philosophical questions you might find Oliver Sack's books, especially "The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat" interesting. (Honest that title's not flame bait, it's real, look it up!) It's about how the mind can fail in some really interesting ways under various physical and psychological traumas and what that says about the nature of conciousness. regards and good reading! Stephen Owens Corner Software
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I highly recommend The Tao of Pooh.:-D [EDIT] I forgot to include an old favorite - The Duty of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau. It should be required reading for every child with an IQ over room temperature. [/EDIT] Heard in Bullhead City - "You haven't lost your girl -
you've just lost your turn..." [sigh] So true...Roger Wright wrote: with an IQ over room temperature Man, you're setting the bar a bit high ain't you? Or do you mean room temperature elsewhere than Bullhead City? :) Rob Manderson **Paul Watson wrote:**What sense would you most dislike loosing? Ian Darling replied. Telepathy Then I'd no longer be able to find out everyones dirty little secrets The Lounge, December 4 2003
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GEB is kind of an eye opener isn't it, wonderful book. The Mind's I is also wonderful, as are most Daniel Dennett books, he's the co-author. For example have a look at "Consciousness Explained". Also, for an interesting 'physical' take on these psychological/philosophical questions you might find Oliver Sack's books, especially "The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat" interesting. (Honest that title's not flame bait, it's real, look it up!) It's about how the mind can fail in some really interesting ways under various physical and psychological traumas and what that says about the nature of conciousness. regards and good reading! Stephen Owens Corner Software
Stephen Owens wrote: The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat Great movie and opera too :) Rob Manderson **Paul Watson wrote:**What sense would you most dislike loosing? Ian Darling replied. Telepathy Then I'd no longer be able to find out everyones dirty little secrets The Lounge, December 4 2003
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Roger Wright wrote: with an IQ over room temperature Man, you're setting the bar a bit high ain't you? Or do you mean room temperature elsewhere than Bullhead City? :) Rob Manderson **Paul Watson wrote:**What sense would you most dislike loosing? Ian Darling replied. Telepathy Then I'd no longer be able to find out everyones dirty little secrets The Lounge, December 4 2003
You're right, that was unfair of me. Let's revise that to read above his/her belt size just to make it accessible to a few people here. Oops, I forgot that they're all fat here, too. Shoe size, maybe? Hat? Heard in Bullhead City - "You haven't lost your girl -
you've just lost your turn..." [sigh] So true... -
Stephen Owens wrote: The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat Great movie and opera too :) Rob Manderson **Paul Watson wrote:**What sense would you most dislike loosing? Ian Darling replied. Telepathy Then I'd no longer be able to find out everyones dirty little secrets The Lounge, December 4 2003
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I recommend The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevski. That book changed the way I think to use a tired cliche. Nothing is foolproof for a sufficiently talented fool - Heard on CP
Russian authors are so dark and depressing... Even their music makes me want to suicide sometimes. Haven't they ever had a happy time in their history? Heard in Bullhead City - "You haven't lost your girl -
you've just lost your turn..." [sigh] So true... -
Russian authors are so dark and depressing... Even their music makes me want to suicide sometimes. Haven't they ever had a happy time in their history? Heard in Bullhead City - "You haven't lost your girl -
you've just lost your turn..." [sigh] So true... -
I recommend The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevski. That book changed the way I think to use a tired cliche. Nothing is foolproof for a sufficiently talented fool - Heard on CP
Another good story then, is Notes from the Underground... reading it is like picking at a scab, painful yet enjoyable. It is available on Project Gutenberg btw. :)
--- the work, which will become a new genre unto itself, will be called... -
I'm thinking about ditching programming and goofing around with the computer in my spare time to read instead. After having (finally) completed Gödel Escher Bach, I am going to buy The Mind's I by the same author (Douglas Hofstadter). I think I've become intrigued by philosofy about the human mind. Does anybody have any more authors / specific books in this "genre"? Artificial intelligence is an area which is very much related to this, but it's not what I seek. I am seeking the philosophical aspects, and not the technical. To tell you the truth, I'm a bit fed up with technology in general. So.. if you have any tips, line them up! -- So let's just walk from place to place, as long as we don't talk face to face.
GEB is a great book. The Quark and the Jaguar covers some of the same concepts through the view of complexity theory, and more focued on simple physical examples. I think the concept of a phase transition has many more applications people commonly realize.
My goal is to view code like a chessmaster views a chessboard.
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I'm thinking about ditching programming and goofing around with the computer in my spare time to read instead. After having (finally) completed Gödel Escher Bach, I am going to buy The Mind's I by the same author (Douglas Hofstadter). I think I've become intrigued by philosofy about the human mind. Does anybody have any more authors / specific books in this "genre"? Artificial intelligence is an area which is very much related to this, but it's not what I seek. I am seeking the philosophical aspects, and not the technical. To tell you the truth, I'm a bit fed up with technology in general. So.. if you have any tips, line them up! -- So let's just walk from place to place, as long as we don't talk face to face.
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GEB is a great book. The Quark and the Jaguar covers some of the same concepts through the view of complexity theory, and more focued on simple physical examples. I think the concept of a phase transition has many more applications people commonly realize.
My goal is to view code like a chessmaster views a chessboard.
I also highly recommend Entanglement. It covers a completely seperate topic. The quantum theory of entanglement. But it is a really facinating read and the concepts in the book bring up their own set of philisophical issues. -Andy Brummer
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I'm thinking about ditching programming and goofing around with the computer in my spare time to read instead. After having (finally) completed Gödel Escher Bach, I am going to buy The Mind's I by the same author (Douglas Hofstadter). I think I've become intrigued by philosofy about the human mind. Does anybody have any more authors / specific books in this "genre"? Artificial intelligence is an area which is very much related to this, but it's not what I seek. I am seeking the philosophical aspects, and not the technical. To tell you the truth, I'm a bit fed up with technology in general. So.. if you have any tips, line them up! -- So let's just walk from place to place, as long as we don't talk face to face.
You must have read this before cause its author is from Norway. I mean Jostein Gaarder. One of his book which maybe well known so much translated in farsi with Soofy World name (something like this). He say philosophical aspect with a story. Another book I really like by him is The Solitaire Mystery. Mazy "A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don't need it." - Bob Hope
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I highly recommend The Tao of Pooh.:-D [EDIT] I forgot to include an old favorite - The Duty of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau. It should be required reading for every child with an IQ over room temperature. [/EDIT] Heard in Bullhead City - "You haven't lost your girl -
you've just lost your turn..." [sigh] So true...Roger Wright wrote: should be required reading for every child with an IQ over room temperature I suppose we're talking Fahrenheit..? Because in Celsius, you'll be recommending the book to people who cannot even breathe without machine support. :-D -- So let's just walk from place to place, as long as we don't talk face to face.
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Roger Wright wrote: with an IQ over room temperature Man, you're setting the bar a bit high ain't you? Or do you mean room temperature elsewhere than Bullhead City? :) Rob Manderson **Paul Watson wrote:**What sense would you most dislike loosing? Ian Darling replied. Telepathy Then I'd no longer be able to find out everyones dirty little secrets The Lounge, December 4 2003
Even in Centigrade ? :laugh: Elaine :rose: The tigress is here :-D