Souls, as Douglas R.Hofstadter puts it, come in "different sizes." In his new book I Am A Strange Loop, he even suggests that soulness might be measured--in units called "hunÂeÂkers," after an American music critic, James Huneker, who once wrote of a certain Chopin étude that "small-souled men" should not attempt it. The scale might start with a mosquito, with a tiny fraction of a huneker, ascending to 100 for an average human and upward to maybe 200 for Mahatma Gandhi. (Scientific American)
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Enrique Gili is a freelance writer covering Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability (LOHAS), issues for regional magazines in the Southland and beyond. I live in Ocean Beach, San Diego the coolest beach town around.
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Soul Searching
Category: Art&Design
Posted on: February 22, 2007 4:24 PM, by EJGili
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Typo: "Stange"?
I've liked Hofstadter's books. I don't believe in meaningful souls, but now I'll have to buy it to see what he says.
Posted by: D | February 22, 2007 05:39 PM
As Jay Leno puts it: "Madonna says that she wants to be more like Mahatma Gandhi. Britney Spears just wants to look more like Mahatma Gandhi."
So how does he rank various humans, hominds, mammals, birds, reptiles, ..., bacteria, viruses in terms of DeciHunekers, CentHunekers, MilliHunekers, MicroHunekers, NanoHunekers, PicoHunekers, and the like?
Posted by: Jonathan Vos Post | February 22, 2007 06:32 PM
Thanks for posting this. I love Hofstadter's books and did not know about this one!
Posted by: writerdd | February 22, 2007 07:28 PM