Questions for GEB Unit IV

Mårten Stenius URL: http://www.nada.kth.se/~d90-mst/courses/geb/q4.html

Page and figure references are from the English Penguin Books edition, unless otherwise noted.

Dialogue IV: Contracrostipunctus

Why won't the Record Player Omega work as intended?

What could be the cause of Bach's death? (Sadly, explicitly answered in Chapter IV, p. 86 :-)

Chapter IV: Consistency, Completeness, and Geometry

Is there anything else that Hofstadter wishes to illustrate with Fig. 21 than just a skyscrape that stands?

What is the translation of si paullum a summo ciscessit, vergit ad imum , in the quoted text from Farkas Bolyai? (p. 92)

Couldn't Fig. 22 (Escher's Relativity) also be seen as an illustration of the possible existence of different worlds with completely different mathematical and logical systems? Every person in the picture lives in his own world, unaware of the others. On a local plane, his world is consistent, but viewed from outside the systems contradict each other. I find Hofstadter's interpretation (p. 97) of the picture a little far-fetched. The relation with the discussion on p. 99 in my opinion is stronger.