Douglas Hofstadter facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Douglas Hofstadter
Hofstadter in 2006
Born	Douglas Richard Hofstadter (1945-02-15) February 15, 1945 (age 80) New York City, US
Education	Stanford University (BS) University of Oregon (PhD)
Known for	Gödel, Escher, Bach I Am a Strange Loop Hofstadter's butterfly Hofstadter's law
Spouse(s)	Carol Ann Brush (1985–1993; her death) Baofen Lin (2012–present)
Children	2
Awards	National Book Award Pulitzer Prize Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement
Scientific career
Fields	Cognitive science Philosophy of mind Artificial intelligence Physics
Institutions	Indiana University Stanford University University of Oregon University of Michigan
Thesis	The Energy Levels of Bloch Electrons in a Magnetic Field (1975)
Doctoral advisor	Gregory Wannier
Doctoral students	David Chalmers Robert M. French Scott A. Jones Melanie Mitchell

Douglas Richard Hofstadter (born February 15, 1945) is an American scientist. He studies how our minds work, especially how we understand ourselves and the world around us. He also explores ideas like consciousness (what it means to be aware), how we make connections between different ideas (analogy-making), and artificial intelligence (AI).

Hofstadter is famous for his 1979 book, Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid. This book won two major awards: the Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award. His 2007 book, I Am a Strange Loop, also won an award from the Los Angeles Times.

Early Life and School

Douglas Hofstadter was born in New York City. His father, Robert Hofstadter, was a physicist who later won the Nobel Prize. Douglas grew up near Stanford University, where his father taught. He even went to school in Geneva, Switzerland, for a year.

He studied mathematics at Stanford University and graduated in 1965. Later, he earned his PhD in physics from the University of Oregon in 1975. During his physics studies, he discovered a cool pattern called Hofstadter's butterfly. It's a type of fractal, which is a complex pattern that repeats itself at different scales.

His Work at Universities

In 1977, Hofstadter started teaching at Indiana University. There, he began his research into how computers could model human thinking. He first called this "artificial intelligence research," but now he prefers "cognitive science research." Cognitive science is the study of how the mind works.

He also taught at the University of Michigan for a few years. In 1988, he returned to Indiana University. He became a distinguished professor, meaning he was recognized for his important work.

At Indiana University, he leads a group called the "Fluid Analogies Research Group" (FARG). They study how people make analogies, which is when you understand something new by comparing it to something you already know.

Books and Ideas

Hofstadter and his students have created computer programs that try to understand how our minds work. For example, one program called Copycat tries to make analogies, just like people do. Another project, Letter Spirit, explores how we can be creative, like designing new fonts.

One of Hofstadter's main ideas, which he wrote about in Gödel, Escher, Bach, is about consciousness. He believes that our sense of "self" or "I" comes from many small activities happening in our brain. He compares it to an ant colony, where many individual ants work together to create a complex society. He calls this idea a "strange loop"—a kind of feedback loop where something refers back to itself in a surprising way.

In his book I Am a Strange Loop, he explores this idea even more. He suggests that our "I" might not just be in our own brain, but could be connected to the minds of others too.

Hofstadter also enjoys translating books and poems from other languages. He translated a famous Russian novel-in-verse, Eugene Onegin, by Alexander Pushkin. He also translated novels from French and Italian. His book Le Ton beau de Marot: In Praise of the Music of Language is all about language and the art of translation.

Hofstadter's Law

Hofstadter is also known for something called Hofstadter's law. It's a funny but true observation about how long things take. The law says: "It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's Law." This means that even if you try to plan for delays, things still often take longer than you think!

His Students

Many of Hofstadter's students have gone on to do important work in cognitive science and artificial intelligence. Some of his former PhD students include:

• David Chalmers, who studies consciousness.
• Bob French, who worked on computer models of analogy-making.
• Melanie Mitchell, who helped create the Copycat program.

Writing for Magazines

For a few years, Hofstadter wrote a column for Scientific American magazine called Metamagical Themas. This name is a mixed-up version of "Mathematical Games," which was the name of the column before him.

In his columns, he wrote about many interesting topics. He discussed how language can be unfair, especially when it comes to gender. He also wrote about computer games and how people make decisions.

Personal Life

Douglas Hofstadter was married to Carol Ann Brush, who sadly passed away in 1993 from a brain tumor. They had two children together. Later, in 2012, he married Baofen Lin.

Hofstadter also enjoys composing music for the piano and for piano and voice. He even released a CD of his musical pieces.

He has a younger sister named Molly who was never able to speak or understand language. This experience influenced his thoughts on consciousness and empathy. Because of his beliefs about consciousness and empathy, he became a vegetarian when he was a teenager and has mostly remained one since.

His Books

Here are some of the books Douglas Hofstadter has written:

• Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid (1979)
• Metamagical Themas (1985)
• Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies (co-authored with his students)
• Le Ton beau de Marot: In Praise of the Music of Language
• I Am a Strange Loop (2007)
• Surfaces and Essences: Analogy as the Fuel and Fire of Thinking (co-authored with Emmanuel Sander)

Books He Helped With

Hofstadter has also written introductions or edited other interesting books, including:

• The Mind's I: Fantasies and Reflections on Self and Soul (co-edited with Daniel Dennett)
• Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges (He wrote the preface)
• Gödel's Proof by Ernest Nagel and James R. Newman (He edited a revised edition)

His Translations

• Eugene Onegin: A Novel Versification from Russian (1999)
• The Discovery of Dawn from Italian (2007)
• That Mad Ache from French (2009)

See also

In Spanish: Douglas Hofstadter para niños