Schedule

Jan-12 - Jan-18

• Assignments:
  • Discussion leader sign-up: Assigned on Wed, Jan 14 | Assignment
• Wed, Jan 14 Lecture: Intro; Three-Part Invention; Ch 1 MU-Puzzle
  • Topics:
    • Course framing; GEB overview; MU rules; invariant idea; two Day 1 quizzes
  • Preparation:
    • 📖 GEB Intro; Three-Part Invention; Ch 1 (pp. 3–42)

Jan-19 - Jan-25

• Assignments:
• Mon, Jan 19 Lecture: No class (MLK Day)
• Wed, Jan 21 Lecture: Two-Part Invention; Ch 2 Meaning & Form
  • Topics:
    • pq-system; isomorphism; truth vs provability (preview)
  • Preparation:
    • 📖 GEB: Two-Part Invention; Ch 2
  • Extra Resources:
    • Another multiplication algorithm and how it works (vi hart)

Jan-26 - Feb-01

• Assignments:
  • Formal systems office viva (MU, pq, tq, or DND): Assigned on Mon, Jan 26 | Assignment
• Mon, Jan 26 Lecture: Sonata (Unaccompanied); Ch 3 Figure & Ground
  • Topics:
    • Figure/ground; RE vs R (recognition vs generation)
  • Preparation:
    • 📖 GEB: Sonata for Unaccompanied Achilles; Ch 3
  • Extra Resources:
    • Visual Proof of the Pythagorean Theorem (1:17-2:02)
• Wed, Jan 28 Lecture: Contracrostipunctus; Ch 4 Consistency/Completeness/Geometry
  • Topics:
    • Self-reference paraphrases; undefined terms; rival geometries
  • Preparation:
    • 📖 GEB: Contracrostipunctus; Ch 4
  • Extra Resources:
    • Political Acrostic Obscenity
    • What was Euclid really doing? (3Blue1Brown video)
    • Paraconsistent logic (SEP)

Feb-02 - Feb-08

• Assignments:
• Mon, Feb 02 Lecture: Little Harmonic Labyrinth; Ch 5 Recursion
  • Topics:
    • Nested structures; recursion across domains
  • Preparation:
    • 📖 GEB: Little Harmonic Labyrinth; Ch 5
  • Extra Resources:
    • Extending Factorial!
• Wed, Feb 04 Lecture: Canon by Intervallic Augmentation; Ch 6 Location of Meaning
  • Topics:
    • Where meaning resides; code/decoder/receiver
  • Preparation:
    • 📖 GEB: Canon by Intervallic Augmentation; Ch 6

Feb-09 - Feb-15

• Assignments:
• Mon, Feb 09 Lecture: Chromatic Fantasy; Ch 7 Propositional Calculus
  • Topics:
    • Rules that preserve truth; zen-tences
  • Preparation:
    • 📖 GEB: Chromatic Fantasy; Ch 7
• Wed, Feb 11 Lecture: Crab Canon; Ch 8 TNT
  • Topics:
    • Typographical Number Theory; formal arithmetic
  • Preparation:
    • 📖 GEB: Crab Canon; Ch 8

Feb-16 - Feb-22

• Assignments:
• Mon, Feb 16 Lecture: A Mu Offering; Ch 9 Mumon & Godel
  • Topics:
    • Zen metaphors; Godel numbering; first pass at incompleteness
  • Preparation:
    • 📖 GEB: A Mu Offering; Ch 9
  • Extra Resources:
    • Which is better, closures or objects?
• Wed, Feb 18 Lecture: Nagel & Newman chs 1–3 (history; arithmetization; fixed points)
  • Topics:
    • Scaffold for formal proof day; coding syntax; diagonal idea
  • Preparation:
    • 📖 Nagel & Newman: chs 1–3
  • Extra Resources:
    • Really nice Godel numbering programs
    • Mating with two knights

Feb-23 - Mar-01

• Assignments:
• Mon, Feb 23 Lecture: Prelude ... ; Ch 10 Levels & Computer Systems
  • Topics:
    • Levels of description; machine/assembly/compiler/OS
  • Preparation:
    • 📖 GEB: Prelude; Ch 10
  • Extra Resources:
    • Summary of Fermat's last theorem (archive.org link)
    • Link to related Dr.Math Archive Background (links require archive.org spelunking)
    • Perlis: Epigrams on Programming
    • A thing that does suck dust (What math grad students do today)
    • Compiled Languages vs Interpreted Languages
• Wed, Feb 25 Lecture: ... Ant Fugue; Ch 11 Brains & Thoughts
  • Topics:
    • Holism vs reductionism; ant colony mind
  • Preparation:
    • 📖 GEB: Ant Fugue; Ch 11

Mar-02 - Mar-08

• Assignments:
• Mon, Mar 02 Lecture: No class (Spring Break)
• Wed, Mar 04 Lecture: No class (Spring Break)

Mar-09 - Mar-15

• Assignments:
• Mon, Mar 09 Lecture: English-French-German Suite; Ch 12 Minds & Thoughts
  • Topics:
    • Mapping languages/minds; communication across brains
  • Preparation:
    • 📖 GEB: English-French-German Suite; Ch 12
• Wed, Mar 11 Lecture: Aria w/ Diverse Variations; Ch 13 Bloop/Floop/Gloop
  • Topics:
    • Primitive vs general recursion; predictable vs unbounded search
  • Preparation:
    • 📖 GEB: Aria with Diverse Variations; Ch 13

Mar-16 - Mar-22

• Assignments:
  • Assigned paper reading for Wednesday: Assigned on Mon, Mar 16 | Assignment
• Mon, Mar 16 Lecture: Air on G's String; Ch 14 Undecidable Propositions (Godel I proof day)
  • Topics:
    • Diagonal lemma; true-but-unprovable; TNT completeness vs truth
  • Preparation:
    • 📖 GEB: Air on G's String; Ch 14
• Wed, Mar 18 Lecture: Nagel & Newman chs 6–7; Boolos
  • Topics:
    • Godel II in plain language; Con(T) unprovable inside T
  • Preparation:
    • 📖 Nagel & Newman: chs 6–7
    • 📖 Boolos: Godel II in words of one syllable

Mar-23 - Mar-29

• Assignments:
• Mon, Mar 23 Lecture: Birthday Cantatatata; Ch 15 Jumping Out; Lucas
  • Topics:
    • Essential incompleteness; Lucas argument (critique setup)
  • Preparation:
    • 📖 GEB: Birthday Cantatatata; Ch 15
    • 📖 Lucas summary handout (1 page)
• Wed, Mar 25 Lecture: Chalmers on Godel vs Mechanism/AI
  • Topics:
    • Reply to Lucas; what Godel does/does not imply for AI
  • Preparation:
    • 📖 Chalmers: minds, machines, and mathematics (excerpt)

Mar-30 - Apr-05

• Assignments:
  • Small 1# assignment (pre-class demo): Assigned on Sun, Mar 29
  • UTM project (universal 1#) assigned: Assigned on Wed, Apr 01
• Mon, Mar 30 Lecture: Edifying Thoughts; Ch 16 Self-Ref & Self-Rep
  • Topics:
    • Self-reference and self-reproduction; quines; replication
  • Preparation:
    • 📖 GEB: Edifying Thoughts of a Tobacco Smoker; Ch 16
• Wed, Apr 01 Lecture: 1# / TRM; Chiang 'Seventy-Two Letters' (assign UTM)
  • Topics:
    • 1# model; live quine demo; names and descriptions; assign UTM project
  • Preparation:
    • 📖 Chiang: Seventy-Two Letters
    • 📖 1# (TRM) quick reference

Apr-06 - Apr-12

• Assignments:
• Mon, Apr 06 Lecture: No class (Easter)
• Wed, Apr 08 Lecture: The Magnificrab, Indeed; Ch 17 Church–Turing–Tarski; Pullum
  • Topics:
    • CT-thesis variants; Halting; Tarski; assign Pullum poem
  • Preparation:
    • 📖 GEB: The Magnificrab, Indeed; Ch 17
    • 📖 Pullum: Scooping the Loop Snooper

Apr-13 - Apr-19

• Assignments:
  • Medium 1# assignment (due; brief in-class explanations): Assigned on Sun, Apr 12
  • UTM demo (graded): Assigned on Sun, Apr 12
• Mon, Apr 13 Lecture: SHRDLU; Ch 18 AI Retrospects
  • Topics:
    • Turing Test; early AI; NLP in blocks world
  • Preparation:
    • 📖 GEB: SHRDLU; Ch 18
  • Extra Resources:
    • The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage (Padua)
• Wed, Apr 15 Lecture: Rapaport PoCS I (CT-thesis; what an algorithm amounts to)
  • Topics:
    • Philosophy of CS: effective procedures; programs vs specifications
  • Preparation:
    • 📖 Rapaport PoCS: CT-thesis notes

Apr-20 - Apr-26

• Assignments:
• Mon, Apr 20 Lecture: Contrafactus; Ch 19 AI Prospects
  • Topics:
    • Knowledge representation; frames; concept interaction
  • Preparation:
    • 📖 GEB: Contrafactus; Ch 19
• Wed, Apr 22 Lecture: Rapaport PoCS II (spec vs implementation; verification snapshot)
  • Topics:
    • Specs, implementations, and informal verification
  • Preparation:
    • 📖 Rapaport PoCS: spec vs implementation notes

Apr-27 - May-03

• Assignments:
• Mon, Apr 27 Lecture: Sloth Canon; Ch 20 Strange Loops
  • Topics:
    • Tangled hierarchies; free will questions
  • Preparation:
    • 📖 GEB: Sloth Canon; Ch 20
• Wed, Apr 29 Lecture: Aaronson 'Who Can Name the Bigger Number?' + Busy Beaver
  • Topics:
    • Naming power; Busy Beaver after Halting; growth beyond computable
  • Preparation:
    • 📖 Aaronson: Who Can Name the Bigger Number?
  • Extra Resources:
    • Busy Beaver Hunters Bag #5
    • What is a strange loop, and what is it like to be one?

May-04 - May-10

• Assignments:
• Mon, May 04 Lecture: Six-Part Ricercar (closing dialogue)
  • Topics:
    • Capstone seminar; synthesis; optional final TRM check-offs
  • Preparation:
    • 📖 GEB: Six-Part Ricercar