Gödel
Godel's incompleteness theorems are fundamental to understanding the limits of scientific and mathematical knowledge and the power of self-reference. It proves the Taoist saying by demonstrating that we can never fully determine what is true using the language of mathematics.
The tao that can be described is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be spoken is not the eternal Name
-Lao Tzu
Gödel, Escher, Bach should be considered required reading for a full understanding of metaculture.
View All References to Self-Reference
Here's a basic explanation of Gödel's incompleteness theorem if such a thing exists.
A free online course from MIT is available to help get the most out of this seminal work.
Technically this is based on another book by Hofstadter but it does a good job explaining a lot of the concepts of recursion and consciousness that are in GEB.