# Strange Loops **Domain:** Cognitive Science / Self-Reference **Doc Type:** Concept **Maturity:** Developed **Related:** [[Douglas Hofstadter]], [[Gödel, Escher, Bach]], [[Self-Reference]], [[Recursive Self-Model]], [[Gödelian Analogy]] ## Definition A **strange loop** is a recursive structure in which movement through apparently distinct levels returns to the point of origin, destabilizing the hierarchy that separated those levels. ## Corpus Context Douglas Hofstadter uses strange loops to examine how selfhood and meaning may emerge through recursive symbolic levels. The concept draws inspiration from Gödel but is not itself an incompleteness theorem. ## Relationships [[Gödel, Escher, Bach]], [[The Mind's I]], [[Recursive Self-Model]], [[Self-Reference]], [[wiki/Bauhaus Architects of AI|Bauhaus Architects of AI]]