markm reviewed Surfaces and Essences by Emmanuel Sander
Review of 'Surfaces and Essences' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
A fascinating argument that the mental process of analogy is the central engine of cognition by Douglas Hofstadter and Emmanuel Sander, apparently written simultaneously in English and French. The argument itself is presented as many simple but detailed presentations of examples of thinking via analogy that are so overwhelmingly inclusive that the book is very difficult to read through. Ultimately we are stultified. Nevertheless, there are many interesting things in here (there is, after all, sooo much). I especially liked examples of the way different languages express certain thoughts, e.g. that English has specific words to divide siblings into the male and female, but in Indonesia the available words divide siblings into the elder and the younger.
