Comments on: Douglas Hofstadter at Stanford http://www.nehrlich.com/blog/2006/02/06/douglas-hofstadter-at-stanford/ Eric Nehrlich, Unrepentant Generalist Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:24:42 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 By: Eric http://www.nehrlich.com/blog/2006/02/06/douglas-hofstadter-at-stanford/comment-page-1/#comment-1121 Eric Tue, 07 Feb 2006 18:25:43 +0000 http://www.nehrlich.com/blog/?p=455#comment-1121 Dang, I knew I forgot something - Bug's point about adding new instances to refine meaning reminds me that I had meant to make the point that Hofstadter's use of analogies maps very well to the use of tagging these days. One of the insights I took away from the last BrainJam was how people use multiple tags for exactly that purpose - one tag might be unclear as to which feature was relevant, but the intersection of several tags narrows it down. Just like with analogies, as you described. I'm still not entirely convinced, partially because I have totally failed to map any of my mental categorizations into tagging space effectively. But I think I haven't found the right interface for how I think yet. del.icio.us doesn't do it for me. And I don't have gmail. Anyway. Dang, I knew I forgot something – Bug’s point about adding new instances to refine meaning reminds me that I had meant to make the point that Hofstadter’s use of analogies maps very well to the use of tagging these days. One of the insights I took away from the last BrainJam was how people use multiple tags for exactly that purpose – one tag might be unclear as to which feature was relevant, but the intersection of several tags narrows it down. Just like with analogies, as you described.

I’m still not entirely convinced, partially because I have totally failed to map any of my mental categorizations into tagging space effectively. But I think I haven’t found the right interface for how I think yet. del.icio.us doesn’t do it for me. And I don’t have gmail. Anyway.

]]> By: DocBug http://www.nehrlich.com/blog/2006/02/06/douglas-hofstadter-at-stanford/comment-page-1/#comment-1120 DocBug Tue, 07 Feb 2006 18:16:00 +0000 http://www.nehrlich.com/blog/?p=455#comment-1120 <strong>Event: Douglas Hofstadter at Stanford 2/6/06 @7pm</strong> For you local folk, on Monday evening Douglas Hofstadter will be giving a special lecture at Stanford University on Analogy as the Core of Cognition. The event is free and... Event: Douglas Hofstadter at Stanford 2/6/06 @7pm

For you local folk, on Monday evening Douglas Hofstadter will be giving a special lecture at Stanford University on Analogy as the Core of Cognition. The event is free and…

]]> By: Bug http://www.nehrlich.com/blog/2006/02/06/douglas-hofstadter-at-stanford/comment-page-1/#comment-1119 Bug Tue, 07 Feb 2006 18:13:14 +0000 http://www.nehrlich.com/blog/?p=455#comment-1119 A quick thought on categories and jumping between analogies: adding new instances (analogies) to a category refines its meaning. "He's something of an Einstein" means he's really smart, the feature that distinguishes Einstein from other people the most in our minds. "He's something of an Einstein / Werner von Braun" highlights both the science and the WW2-German-brain-drain-to-the-US aspect. "He's something of an Einstein / Gene Simmons" highlights the fact that he's on a lot of posters with his tongue sticking out. A quick thought on categories and jumping between analogies: adding new instances (analogies) to a category refines its meaning.

“He’s something of an Einstein” means he’s really smart, the feature that distinguishes Einstein from other people the most in our minds.

“He’s something of an Einstein / Werner von Braun” highlights both the science and the WW2-German-brain-drain-to-the-US aspect.

“He’s something of an Einstein / Gene Simmons” highlights the fact that he’s on a lot of posters with his tongue sticking out.

]]> By: Rachel http://www.nehrlich.com/blog/2006/02/06/douglas-hofstadter-at-stanford/comment-page-1/#comment-1118 Rachel Tue, 07 Feb 2006 17:45:40 +0000 http://www.nehrlich.com/blog/?p=455#comment-1118 Wow, that was fast! Editing isn't for wusses, but on a blog you *can* get away with a bit of scatteredness - especially if you're moving ;) It was an interesting talk - I hope there will eventually be some sort of transcript of it online somewhere (maybe an audio of it at least). It was a massive turn out - I hope Stanford's got bigger facilities than just the education bldg.! Anyway, it was interesting to see Doug's thoughts on language especially the ones which are clearly a work in progress. It's refreshing to attend a talk where it's not all prepackaged, all sorted out and perfected by the speaker - it gives hope to the rest of us who are not prepackaged in any way, shape or form... Wow, that was fast! Editing isn’t for wusses, but on a blog you *can* get away with a bit of scatteredness – especially if you’re moving ;)

It was an interesting talk – I hope there will eventually be some sort of transcript of it online somewhere (maybe an audio of it at least). It was a massive turn out – I hope Stanford’s got bigger facilities than just the education bldg.! Anyway, it was interesting to see Doug’s thoughts on language especially the ones which are clearly a work in progress. It’s refreshing to attend a talk where it’s not all prepackaged, all sorted out and perfected by the speaker – it gives hope to the rest of us who are not prepackaged in any way, shape or form…

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