jbtubman@water.UUCP (Jim Tubman) (11/27/85)
This may be of interest to Canadians, and to Americans living near the border. Douglas R. Hofstadter, author of "Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid", will be discussing his work on the CBC Radio program "Ideas", on December 10, at 9:05 PM. The CBC Radio Guide says: "Ideas" Interviews: Douglas R. Hofstadter. "Ideas" host Lister Sinclair (a former University of Toronto mathematician) in conversation with the Pullitzer Prize-winning author of "Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid". Mathematician, thinker, and researcher, Hofstadter is especially interested in how people perceive and think and if those abilities can be simulated by machines. What is the nature of intelligence? Of creativity? To answer such questions, Hofstadter turns to mathematics, art, science, music and magic. He explores the essence of meaning and asks how visual and musical patterns can stir our emotions and thoughts. If artificial intelligence is insolubly bound up with pattern recognition, Hofstadter is asked, how much pattern does a machine have to recognize before we say it is really thinking. [Transcripts of "Ideas" broadcasts can be obtained by sending a cheque or money order for $3.00 Canadian by writing to Ideas, CBC Radio, Box 500, Station A, Toronto, Ontario, M5W 1E6. Be sure to mention which transcript you want!]
rggoebel@water.UUCP (Randy Goebel LPAIG) (12/19/85)
Sorry, but Hofstadter is in a class with all humans when it comes to being a "thinker." If the attribution of "thinker" means what I believe it means, then I don't think it applies to Hofstadter.