Depending on how you define “preexisting reality”, most professional mathematics can be said not to achieve this. In any case, the terms under which people usually praise Douglas Hofstadter do not include this sort of achievement. And if you really want to know what Hofstadter has done, there’s this.
Depending on how you define “preexisting reality”, most professional mathematics can be said not to achieve this. In any case, the terms under which people usually praise Douglas Hofstadter do not include this sort of achievement. And if you really want to know what Hofstadter has done, there’s this.