[WikiEN-l] "So fix it." "The next day someone will fix it back."

[Daniel R. Tobias]

On 1 Apr 2007 at 10:21, Fastfission <fastfission at gmail.com> wrote:

> Excerpt from NY Times Magazine, "Questions for Douglas Hofstadter", 4/1/07:
> 
> Q. Your entry in Wikipedia says that your work has inspired many
> students to begin careers in computing and artificial intelligence.
> 
> A. I have no interest in computers. The entry is filled with
> inaccuracies, and it kinds of depresses me.
> 
> Q. So fix it.
> 
> A. The next day someone will fix it back.
> 
> http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/01/magazine/01wwlnQ4.t.html

I think that Hofstadter, an author I greatly respect by the way, 
isn't being entirely fair here.  The cited statement in Wikipedia's 
article on him does not actually contradict what Hofstadter said 
about it; it's perfectly logically consistent for a person to have no 
interest in computers, but nevertheless have, through his work, 
inspired many students to begin careers in computing.  The former is 
a statement about Hofstadter's personal interests (about which I 
would presume Hofstadter himself is the best judge), while the latter 
is a statement about the interests and motivations of students who 
read of Hofstadter's work; it's quite possible that they can be 
motivated in directions that seem bizarre or perverse from the 
standpoint of the author himself.  After all, Jodie Foster could be 
said to have "motivated" John Hinkley, Jr. to attempt to assassinate 
Ronald Reagan, but that's hardly something she intended, supports, or 
had an interest in.

Anyway, developing an interest in computing and AI from reading 
Hofstadter's works doesn't even require a leap of madness of the sort 
that Hinkley underwent; those books are full of references to these 
topics, and at some points Hofstadter even gives illustrative 
examples in the form of pseudocode in programming languages he 
invents for this purpose.  I'm not sure in what sense he's not 
interested in computers (perhaps he just wishes to disassociate 
himself from the "geek community"?), but his own works seem to show a 
great interest in the logical and philosophical issues raised by 
computing.

However, if the statement that he's inspired people in those fields 
is merely a personal feeling of an editor, it should be removed as 
original research unless a specific source is found.

-- 
== Dan ==
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