Goedel, Escher, Bach: Pursuing the Meaning of 'Self' in Math, Art, and Music

Course Description

This seminar debates the question of consciousness and the possibility of artificial intelligence. It revolves around a book by Douglas R. Hofstadter that attempts to discover what “self” really means. Students are to be introduced to cognitive science, and the course draws heavily from art and music to illustrate fine points in mathematics. The works of M.C. Escher and J.S. Bach are discussed. The topics presented range from mathematics to programming, recursion (in math as well as in computing), formal systems, multilevel systems, self reference, self representation, and others.