There are shallower aspects of a person and there are deeper aspects, and the deeper aspects are what imbue the shallower ones with genuine meaning. - Douglas Hofstadter

A computer program can modify itself but it cannot violate its own instructions — it can at best change some parts of itself by *obeying* its own instructions.

"Now what is "music"–a sequence of vibrations in the air, or a succession of emotional responses in the brain?"

"The "space" of all possible programs is so huge that no one can have a sense of what is possible. Each higher-level language is naturally suited for exploring certain regions of "program space"; thus the programmer, by using that language, is channeled into those areas of program space. He is not forced by the language into writing programs of any particular type, but the language makes it easy for him to do certain kinds of things. Proximity to a concept, and a gentle shove, are often all that is needed for a major discovery-and that is the reason for the drive towards languages of ever higher levels."