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What was the "smart-stupid"?

Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2023 2:19 pm
by 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.

Re: What was the "smart-stupid"?

Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2023 2:33 pm
by 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.

Re: What was the "smart-stupid"?

Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2023 3:06 pm
by Travis B.
WeepingElf wrote: Wed Mar 08, 2023 2:33 pm 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.)

Re: What was the "smart-stupid"?

Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2023 3:22 am
by alice
And alice was enlightened! Danke.

Re: What was the "smart-stupid"?

Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2023 3:52 am
by WeepingElf
And of course, sophomore means 'smart stupid' in Greek.

Re: What was the "smart-stupid"?

Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2023 9:27 am
by Travis B.
BTW, I'd highly recommend that you all read Gödel, Escher, Bach myself.

Re: What was the "smart-stupid"?

Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2023 9:48 am
by WeepingElf
Yes, it is a highly recommendable book.

Re: What was the "smart-stupid"?

Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2023 12:51 pm
by Torco
and so it was that torco decided how to spend one of his remnant audible credits

Re: What was the "smart-stupid"?

Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2023 2:08 pm
by Travis B.
Torco wrote: Thu Mar 09, 2023 12:51 pm 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.

Re: What was the "smart-stupid"?

Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2023 2:33 pm
by 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.

Re: What was the "smart-stupid"?

Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2023 6:34 pm
by Travis B.
I just ordered a paperback copy of Gödel, Escher, Bach to replace the long-missing copy that I previously had.