Folha: ‘Hofstadter: how does the brain think?’

Reproduction of Marcelo Viana’s column in Folha de S. Paulo

“Gödel, Escher, Bach”, published in 1979 by Douglas Hofstadter, is an extraordinary book. On the surface, it is an invitation to explore ideas common to the mathematical demonstrations of K. Gödel, the paradoxical engravings of M. C. Escher and the musical compositions of J. S. Bach. But its profound goal is to debate how awareness of ourselves develops in our brains.

With good humor, moving between scientific popularization and philosophical meditation, he takes us on a journey through the worlds of symmetry, mathematics, computing and music. Through dialogues and stories with iconic characters, it presents profound ideas such as self-reference – think of the phrase “This sentence is false”, which speaks to itself – present both in Gödel’s mathematics and in Escher’s art and in Bach’s music. Hofstadter maintains that such ideas are crucial to understanding how our brains work.

My favorite character is Aunt Hilary (“she insists on being called aunt, even though she doesn’t have nephews!”), a colony of ants whose best friend is the Armadillo. They are normal ants, with rudimentary intelligence and fear of the Armadillo (it feeds on them!). But Aunt Hilary is quite different, bright and expansive. Even more so in the presence of the Armadillo: the panic of the ants is how the colony expresses its joy at finding its friend. Different does not mean independent: Aunt Hilary’s decisions affect the actions of the ants as much as their behavior influences the personality of the colony.

It is a metaphor that illustrates two central ideas in “Gödel, Escher, Bach”. The first is that complex systems develop functions that concern the system as a whole, making no sense for the component parts. Consciousness, for example, emanates from the brain as a whole, including neuronal organization and interaction, it does not reside in any of the neurons.

So precisely what in our brain generates consciousness? That’s where the second idea comes in. The brain has a complex structure, organized into several hierarchical levels, from molecules to the organ as a whole. These levels influence each other, both from the top down and from the bottom up, in such a way that each level ends up acting on itself in ways that resemble “This sentence is false.” Hofstadter argues that this phenomenon, which he calls strange “loops”, is a fundamental ingredient for the formation of our mind.

“Gödel, Escher, Bach” popularized the relationships between mathematics, logic, cognition, music, and art, inspiring philosophers and computer and cognitive scientists. It won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize and made its author a celebrity. The surname of the character Leonard in the popular series “The Big Bang Theory” is one of the many tributes he has received.

To read it in full, visit Folha’s website.

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