Monday, May 24, 2021

On Reading But Not Understanding

 Bob Somerby today has a post about Godel and Wittgenstein. It seems he got deeply into philosophy in his college days, and he often refers to them, as well as others (like Bertrand Russell just last week).  Douglas Hofstadter wrote a famous book in 1979 on Godel, Escher and Bach.  I was one of those who bought the book but never finished it.

I'm someone whose identity is tied up in their mind--i.e, all my life (almost) I've been "smart", so I don't like to admit there's stuff I can't understand. Bob is a mix of the esoteric, the cranky, and the right-on, whom I find mostly worthwhile to read, but I do skip paragraphs and occasional posts. 

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