Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter specifically addresses the notion of “maps” or connections across formal systems. Hofstadter asserts that a formal system supports all mental activity but that this formal system transcends all supporting systems.
If life can develop from a cell’s formal chemical foundation and consciousness from a formal network of firing neurons, computers will develop the same intellect as people. Meaning, reduction, recursion, and many other fascinating concepts at the core of cognitive science are explored in great detail in Gödel, Escher, and Bach.
