Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?

#131

Post by robin_reala » Tue, Feb 05, 2019, 6:44 PM UTC

jcranberry wrote: post #67

The Brothers Karamazov by Feodor Dostoevsky. At the time I didn't realize that it changed me, but looking back on it, the perspectives I learned from it fundamentally how I viewed and understood other people.

It’s so good. I just finished reading the Constance Garnett translation and it’s just gripping all the way through. Well, I guess apart from Zossima’s life story in the middle, but that definitely has its place.

The Gutenberg HTML of it is definitely a labour of love and extremely high quality: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/28054/28054-h/28054-h.html . I converted it to a nicely formatted epub for Standard Ebooks and it’s in review now, so hopefully will be available this week.

Re: Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?

#132

Post by tomovo » Tue, Feb 05, 2019, 6:44 PM UTC

sys_64738 wrote: post #64

Programming the Commodore 64 in 1986.

Are you Ron Gilbert?

Re: Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?

#133

Post by tdhz77 » Tue, Feb 05, 2019, 6:45 PM UTC

navyad wrote: post #93

Atlas Shrugged- Ayn Rand It has a strong character which put work above everything else in life, highly idealist one.

Oh the mascot of the white peoples party.

Re: Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?

#134

Post by sharadov » Tue, Feb 05, 2019, 6:45 PM UTC

Too many but I can list authors Michael Pollan - all his books

Jiddu Krishnamurti - a freethinker, who said we need a revolution in the psyche of the individual

Paul Theroux - prolific travel writing

Oliver Sacks - his insights into brain disorders

Salman Rushdie - his early works, when he was in his prime, a giant in literature.

Re: Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?

#135

Post by xutopia » Tue, Feb 05, 2019, 6:46 PM UTC

felipelemos wrote: post #46

The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, by Carl Sagan. It changed the way I see the world, how to have a sceptical mind and not only how but why one should question. And also, it shows to me that, if you don't have a answer for something, doesn't mean that it can not be true. It's just that you don't know. And for a lot of things, this is the correct and only answer that we can have now.

I came from a deeply religious family and read this book after reading Contact (a friend lent me). It too had a lasting impact on my worldview. I cultivate a skeptical worldview nowadays thanks to this book.

Re: Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?

#136

Post by nickysielicki » Tue, Feb 05, 2019, 6:47 PM UTC

In order:

1. The Technological Society - Jacques Ellul

2. The Sickness Unto Death - Kierkegaard

3. Dubliners - James Joyce

4. Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World - Cal Newport

Re: Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?

#137

Post by tdhz77 » Tue, Feb 05, 2019, 6:47 PM UTC

joshfraser wrote: post #60

- How to Win Friends and Influence People - Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind - Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

Interesting mix. Going to check out Sapiens I’ve only heard good things.

Re: Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?

#138

Post by bunderbunder » Tue, Feb 05, 2019, 6:47 PM UTC

Essence of Decision by Graham T. Allison

In a nutshell: The mental models we typically use to think about and understand the behavior of organizations such as corporations and governments are deeply wrong.

Re: Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?

#139

Post by tejinderss » Tue, Feb 05, 2019, 6:48 PM UTC

LyndsySimon wrote: post #47

Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius. Bottom line: judge your success in life by how well you make your decisions, not by your outcome. You have full control of your decisions, and often no control at all over their results.

If you are interested in stoicism, 'stoicism and the art of happiness' is a good book

Re: Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?

#140

Post by kerkeslager » Tue, Feb 05, 2019, 6:49 PM UTC

How about some essays:

Tense Present by David Foster Wallace: https://harpers.org/wp-content/uploads/HarpersMagazine-2001-...

This really changed how I think about communication and language, which is used for everything.

Abolition of Work by Bob Black http://www.primitivism.com/abolition.htm

This essay persuaded me to change a belief which was previously core to my belief system: that work is an inherent good. I don't think that his view of an ideal society is entirely realistic now, but as technology replaces jobs, I see Bob Black's vision of productive play to be a lot more palatable than slavishly continuing the capitalist obsession with work as work becomes more and more unnecessary.