Noun
strange loop (plural strange loops)
A situation where, by moving only upwards or downwards through a hierarchical system, one finds oneself back where one started. These loops often involve self-reference and paradox.
The Strange Loop phenomenon occurs whenever, by moving upwards (or downwards) through levels of some hierarchial system, we unexpectedly find ourselves right back where we started. Douglas Hofstadter
Life is the strange loop of a snake releasing itself from its own grip, unmouthing an ever fattening tail tapering up to an ever increasingly large mouth, birthing an ever larger tail, filling the universe with this strangeness. Kevin Kelly (editor)