Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Hofstadter Douglas R

Author:Hofstadter, Douglas R. [Hofstadter, Douglas R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Symmetry, Escher, Metamathematics, Gödel, Kurt, Artificial intelligence, Art, Bach, Science, Johann Sebastian, M. C. 1898-1972, Psychology, Music, History, 1685-1750, Philosophy
ISBN: 9780465026562
Amazon: 0465026567
Goodreads: 24113
Publisher: Basic Books
Published: 1979-04-01T08:00:00+00:00

Subsystems and Shared Code

Typical subsystems might be those that represent the people we know intimately. They are represented in such a complex way in our brains that their symbols enlarge to the rank of subsystem, becoming able to act autonomously, making use of some resources in our brains for support. By this, I mean thai a subsystem symbolizing a friend can activate many of the symbols in my brain just as I can. For instance, I can fire up my subsystem for a good friend and virtually feel myself in his shoes, running through thoughts which he might have, activating symbols in sequences which reflect his thinking patterns more accurately than my own. It could be said that my model of this friend, as embodied in a subsystem of my brain, constitutes my own chunked description of his brain.

Does this subsystem include, then, a symbol for every symbol which I think is in his brain? That would be redundant. Probably the subsystem makes extensive use of symbols already present in my brain. For instance, the symbol for "mountain" in my brain can be borrowed by the subsystem, when it is activated. The way in which that symbol is then used by the subsystem will not necessarily be identical to the way it is used by my full brain. In particular, if I am talking with my friend about the Tien Shan mountain range in Central Asia (neither of us having been there), and I know that a number of years ago he had a wonderful hiking experience in the Alps, then my interpretation of his remarks will be colored in part by my imported images of his earlier Alpine experience, since I will be trying to imagine how he visualizes the area.

In the vocabulary we have been building up in this Chapter, we could say that the activation of the "mountain" symbol in me is under control of my subsystem representing him. The effect of this is to open up a different window onto to my memories from the one which I normally use—namely, my "default option" switches from the full range of my memories to the set of my memories of his memories. Needless to say, my representations of his memories are only approximations to his actual memories, which are complex modes of activation of the symbols in his brain, inaccessible to me.

My representations of his memories are also complex modes of activation of my own symbols—those for "primordial" concepts, such as grass, trees, snow, sky, clouds, and so on. These are concepts which I must assume are represented in him "identically" to the way they are in me. I must also assume a similar representation in him of even more primordial notions: the experiences of gravity, breathing, fatigue, color, and so forth. Less primordial but perhaps a nearly universal human quality is the enjoyment of reaching a summit and seeing a view. Therefore, the intricate processes in my brain which are responsible for this enjoyment can be taken over directly by the friend-subsystem without much loss of fidelity.

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