Is this good or nah

It's basically a Big Book of Trivia Facts (tm).

Interesting but not substantial. If you want to read it for fun go ahead, but don't expect to get much out of it.

>>8448914

I completely disagree with this poster, if you are a high schooler or freshmen undergraduate in science it will probably be new to you. If you are already well versed in math/cs/physics then it probably won't impact you the same way. It's one of those books that is mindblowing in your teens, but it is very time dependent on reading before you already know the topics it discusses.

it blew my mind at least when I first read it, got me interested in cognitive science.

>>8449286
agreed

touches some big ideas of the mysteries which are logic and our mind

>>8448901
It's one of my favorite books. I didn't know anything about formal systems or cognition before I read it and it was a fun exposition.
Even if you know the concepts, I think it's an interesting discussion of them.

I wouldn't call it a big book of trivia facts. The elements of the book are connected, so if that anon can't see it, he's really missing the point.

it's a really great book for a popular audience but if you have any previous exposure to mathematical logic then a lot of it seems sort of silly. as previously stated, how much you like it depends on when you read it

>>8449898
Silly, sure, but I think none of it is blatantly wrong or unhelpful. A lot of people dislike math and computer science, so I think he just makes these topics a little less formidable with his unusual style.

>>8448914
This is the precisely wrong way to interpret the book.

The book only makes sense when you view it in its totality.

>>8448901

It's full of """"""""""""""whimsical Carrolian dialogues""""""""""".

It's as if someone from the humanities tried to write a science book. Hofstadter is of course a physicist but for some reason he took all the stylistic elements about what makes science books readable and threw them into the garbage can.