The volume is substantial in size and contains extensive notes concerning responses to the articles and other information relevant to their content. (One of the notes—page 65—suggested memetics for the study of memes.)
Major themes include: self-reference in memes, language, art and logic; discussions of philosophical issues important in cognitive science/AI; analogies and what makes something similar to something else (specifically what makes, for example, an uppercase letter 'A' recognizable as such); and lengthy discussions of the work of Robert Axelrod on the prisoner's dilemma, as well as the idea of superrationality.
The concept of superrationality, and its relevance to the Cold War, environmental issues and such, is accompanied by notes on experiments conducted by the author at the time. Another notable feature is the inclusion of two dialogues in the style of those appearing in Gödel, Escher, Bach. Ambigrams are mentioned.
There are three articles centered on the Lisp programming language, in which Hofstadter first details the language itself, and then shows how it relates to Gödel's incompleteness theorem. Two articles are devoted to Rubik's Cube and similar puzzles. Many chapters open with an illustration of an extremely abstract alphabet, yet one which is still gestaltly recognizable as such.
The game of Nomic was first introduced to the public in this column, in June 1982, when excerpts from a book (still unpublished at the time) by the game's creator Peter Suber were printed and discussed.
The index of the book mentions Hofstadter's recurring alter ego, Egbert B. Gebstadter.
From January 1957 through December 1980, Martin Gardner's "Mathematical Games" column was a monthly feature in Scientific American magazine. In 1981, Gardner's column alternated with a new column by Hofstadter called "Metamagical Themas" (an anagram of "Mathematical Games"). Then Hofstadter's column appeared monthly from January 1982 through July 1983.[1]
Date
Title
1981 Jan.
An anagrammatic title introduces a new contributor to this column
1981 March
The Magic Cube's cubies are twiddled by cubists and solved by cubemeisters
1981 May
A coffeehouse conversation on the Turing test to determine if a machine can think
1981 July
Pitfalls of the uncertainty principle and paradoxes of quantum mechanics
1981 Sept.
How might analogy, the core of human thinking, be understood by computers?
1981 Nov.
Strange attractors: mathematical patterns delicately poised between order and chaos
1982 Jan.
A self-referential column about last January's column about self-reference
1982 Feb.
About two kinds of inquiry: "National Enquirer" and "The Skeptical Inquirer"
1982 March
Is the genetic code an arbitrary one, or would another code work as well?
1982 April
The music of Frédéric Chopin: startling aural patterns that also startle the eye
1982 May
Number numbness, or why innumeracy may be just as dangerous as illiteracy
1982 June
About Nomic: a heroic game that explores the reflexivity of the law
1982 July
Beyond Rubik's Cube: spheres, pyramids, dodecahedrons and God knows what else
1982 Aug.
Undercut, Flaunt, Hruska, behavioral evolution and other games of strategy
1982 Sept.
Can inspiration be mechanized?
1982 Oct
Variations on a theme as the essence of imagination
1982 Nov.
"Default assumptions" and their effects on writing and thinking
1982 Dec.
Sense makes more sense than nonsense, but nonsense may still have its purposes
1983 Jan.
Virus-like sentences and self-replicating structures
1983 Feb.
The pleasures of Lisp: the chosen language of artificial intelligence
1983 March
Tripping the light recursive in Lisp, the language of artificial intelligence
1983 April
In which a discourse on the language Lisp concludes with a gargantuan Italian feast
1983 May
Computer tournaments of the Prisoner's Dilemma suggest how cooperation evolves
1983 June
The calculus of cooperation is tested through a lottery
1983 July
Parquet deformations: patterns of tiles that shift gradually in one dimension
French edition
Metamagical Themas was also published in French, under the title Ma Thémagie (InterEditions, 1988), the translators being Jean-Baptiste Berthelin, Jean-Luc Bonnetain, and Lise Rosenbaum.
The wordplay was lost in the French title, and replaced with another one (ma Thémagie would translate to "my themagy", where "themagy" is a neologism, but could also be read as maths et magie, which translates to "maths and magic"). The translators had contemplated Le matin des métamagiciens, which would have been a play on Hofstadter's title plus Le Matin des Magiciens and Jeux malins des mathématiciens (respectively, The Dawn of the Magicians and Clever Tricks of Mathematicians); however, the publisher found that suggestion to be too elaborate.
Reception
Dave Langford reviewed Metamagical Themas for White Dwarf #88, and stated that "a heady mixture of computers, art, mathematics, philosophy, jokes and above all games."[2]
References
^""Stories by Douglas R. Hofstadter". Scientific American.
"A Person Paper on Purity in Language", one of the included essays, first published in September 1983
April 29, 2023
metamagical, themas, this, article, includes, list, general, references, lacks, sufficient, corresponding, inline, citations, please, help, improve, this, article, introducing, more, precise, citations, february, 2013, learn, when, remove, this, template, mess. This article includes a list of general references but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations February 2013 Learn how and when to remove this template message Metamagical Themas is an eclectic collection of articles that Douglas Hofstadter wrote for the popular science magazine Scientific American during the early 1980s The anthology was published in 1985 by Basic Books Metamagical Themas Questing for the Essence of Mind and PatternCover of the first editionAuthorDouglas HofstadterCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishSubjectsFrederic Chopin free will Heisenberg principle Innumeracy Lisp memes Prisoner s dilemma quantum mechanics Rubik s Cube William Safire strange attractors Alan Turing et al Published1985PublisherBasic BooksMedia typePrintPages852ISBN0 465 04566 9OCLC11475807The volume is substantial in size and contains extensive notes concerning responses to the articles and other information relevant to their content One of the notes page 65 suggested memetics for the study of memes Major themes include self reference in memes language art and logic discussions of philosophical issues important in cognitive science AI analogies and what makes something similar to something else specifically what makes for example an uppercase letter A recognizable as such and lengthy discussions of the work of Robert Axelrod on the prisoner s dilemma as well as the idea of superrationality The concept of superrationality and its relevance to the Cold War environmental issues and such is accompanied by notes on experiments conducted by the author at the time Another notable feature is the inclusion of two dialogues in the style of those appearing in Godel Escher Bach Ambigrams are mentioned There are three articles centered on the Lisp programming language in which Hofstadter first details the language itself and then shows how it relates to Godel s incompleteness theorem Two articles are devoted to Rubik s Cube and similar puzzles Many chapters open with an illustration of an extremely abstract alphabet yet one which is still gestaltly recognizable as such The game of Nomic was first introduced to the public in this column in June 1982 when excerpts from a book still unpublished at the time by the game s creator Peter Suber were printed and discussed The index of the book mentions Hofstadter s recurring alter ego Egbert B Gebstadter Contents 1 List of Hofstadter s Metamagical Themas columns 2 French edition 3 Reception 4 References 5 External linksList of Hofstadter s Metamagical Themas columns EditFrom January 1957 through December 1980 Martin Gardner s Mathematical Games column was a monthly feature in Scientific American magazine In 1981 Gardner s column alternated with a new column by Hofstadter called Metamagical Themas an anagram of Mathematical Games Then Hofstadter s column appeared monthly from January 1982 through July 1983 1 Date Title1981 Jan An anagrammatic title introduces a new contributor to this column1981 March The Magic Cube s cubies are twiddled by cubists and solved by cubemeisters1981 May A coffeehouse conversation on the Turing test to determine if a machine can think1981 July Pitfalls of the uncertainty principle and paradoxes of quantum mechanics1981 Sept How might analogy the core of human thinking be understood by computers 1981 Nov Strange attractors mathematical patterns delicately poised between order and chaos1982 Jan A self referential column about last January s column about self reference1982 Feb About two kinds of inquiry National Enquirer and The Skeptical Inquirer 1982 March Is the genetic code an arbitrary one or would another code work as well 1982 April The music of Frederic Chopin startling aural patterns that also startle the eye1982 May Number numbness or why innumeracy may be just as dangerous as illiteracy1982 June About Nomic a heroic game that explores the reflexivity of the law1982 July Beyond Rubik s Cube spheres pyramids dodecahedrons and God knows what else1982 Aug Undercut Flaunt Hruska behavioral evolution and other games of strategy1982 Sept Can inspiration be mechanized 1982 Oct Variations on a theme as the essence of imagination1982 Nov Default assumptions and their effects on writing and thinking1982 Dec Sense makes more sense than nonsense but nonsense may still have its purposes1983 Jan Virus like sentences and self replicating structures1983 Feb The pleasures of Lisp the chosen language of artificial intelligence1983 March Tripping the light recursive in Lisp the language of artificial intelligence1983 April In which a discourse on the language Lisp concludes with a gargantuan Italian feast1983 May Computer tournaments of the Prisoner s Dilemma suggest how cooperation evolves1983 June The calculus of cooperation is tested through a lottery1983 July Parquet deformations patterns of tiles that shift gradually in one dimensionFrench edition EditMetamagical Themas was also published in French under the title Ma Themagie InterEditions 1988 the translators being Jean Baptiste Berthelin Jean Luc Bonnetain and Lise Rosenbaum The wordplay was lost in the French title and replaced with another one ma Themagie would translate to my themagy where themagy is a neologism but could also be read as maths et magie which translates to maths and magic The translators had contemplated Le matin des metamagiciens which would have been a play on Hofstadter s title plus Le Matin des Magiciens and Jeux malins des mathematiciens respectively The Dawn of the Magicians and Clever Tricks of Mathematicians however the publisher found that suggestion to be too elaborate Reception EditDave Langford reviewed Metamagical Themas for White Dwarf 88 and stated that a heady mixture of computers art mathematics philosophy jokes and above all games 2 References Edit Stories by Douglas R Hofstadter Scientific American Langford Dave April 1987 Critical Mass White Dwarf No 88 Games Workshop p 8 External links EditMetamagical Themas at Google Books A Person Paper on Purity in Language one of the included essays first published in September 1983 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Metamagical Themas amp oldid 1129154457, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
