What was the "smart-stupid"?

[alice]

It's a bothersome gap in my knowledge; can anybody enlighten me? It was something in a (science-fiction?) novel I read long ago, but I can't remember any more. Googling doesn't help.

[WeepingElf]

The "smart-stupid" is a computer in one of the dialogues of Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas R. Hofstadter. It is a play on pianoforte.

[Travis B.]

The "smart-stupid" is a computer in one of the dialogues of Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas R. Hofstadter. It is a play on pianoforte.

I remember reading that book as a kid! (I don't know where the copy of it we had went, because I'd read it again if I found it.)

[alice]

And alice was enlightened! Danke.

[WeepingElf]

And of course, sophomore means 'smart stupid' in Greek.

[Travis B.]

BTW, I'd highly recommend that you all read Gödel, Escher, Bach myself.

[WeepingElf]

Yes, it is a highly recommendable book.

[Torco]

and so it was that torco decided how to spend one of his remnant audible credits

[Travis B.]

and so it was that torco decided how to spend one of his remnant audible credits

To be honest, I'd recommend getting it in dead tree format or at least as an e-book, as there are a lot of things in the book that probably do not translate well into audio format.

[alice]

I've read GEB, or tried to. Some of it is genuinely interesting and provocative, but I remember struggling with other bits. Which is a long-winded way of saying YMMV.

[Travis B.]

I just ordered a paperback copy of Gödel, Escher, Bach to replace the long-missing copy that I previously had.