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Ask HN: What books have made the biggest impact on your mental models?

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Re: Ask HN: What books have made the biggest impact on your mental models?

#141

Post by vpribish »

shubhamjain wrote: post #71
austenallred wrote: post #16

Fantastic question. The selfish gene - for understanding human behavior Meditations of Marcus Aurelius - for understanding how to be content Debt, the first 5,000 years - for understanding money and finance from the ground up Wright Brothers - for understanding how technological breakthroughs happen Snowball (Warren Buffet), Andrew Carnegie and Rockefeller biographies - for understanding the mental mindset to win in…

> Debt, the first 5,000 years - for understanding money and finance from the ground up Having picked this a few weeks ago, I am finding it hard to finish because of the ponderous writing. I admit that first few chapters were a revelation, but the cultural verbosity regarding everything becomes wearing quickly. "The Ascent of Money" is much better primer on the evolution of financial system.

I started "The Ascent of Money" and was very happy with the first half or so - then I set it aside for a few years and worked for a hedge fund. When I picked the book up again I couldn't stand how basic, boring, and mistaken the second half was. I wish I could follow your example and suggest a better book :)

Re: Ask HN: What books have made the biggest impact on your mental models?

#142

Post by kelukelugames »

subsubsub wrote: post #122
kelukelugames wrote: post #68

The first is the Millionaire Next Door. Gave me a better idea of how to manage my finances and what kind of spending habits to look for in a partner. If you are a tightwad then don't marry a spendthrift. Vice versa. [ http://amzn.to/2vAmbW8 ] The second is On Writing Well. This book changed my view regarding how to write and how important it is to write well. As an engineer I regret how much I avoided writing in scho…

Here are all of the books, without the affiliate links: - The Millionaire Next Door [ https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1589795474 ] - On Writing Well [ https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0090RVGW0 ] - The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up [ https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1607747308 ] - Why Men Love Bitches [ https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1580627560 ] - The Low Down on Going Down [ https://www.amazon.com/gp/pr…

I haven't seen anything about posting affiliate links on HN, but thank you for giving people another option.

Re: Ask HN: What books have made the biggest impact on your mental models?

#143

Post by dave_sullivan »

mmmpop wrote: post #131

I'm in the middle of the biography of Robert Moses, "The Power Broker" by Robert Caro and just finished re-reading "A Portrait of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde. As a fairly successful yuppie that came from Not A Whole Lot, it's really knocked me down a few pegs and made me realize that being a pompous ass about my exercised social mobility isn't all that special.

> "A Portrait of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde

Don't you mean "The Picture of Dorian Gray"? (Google it, it's Picture but everyone says Portrait for some reason)

Re: Ask HN: What books have made the biggest impact on your mental models?

#144

Post by colechristensen »

invalidOrTaken wrote: post #130

Complexity: The Emerging Science At The Edge of Order And Chaos was a good read. I strongly recommend reading Jurassic Park at the same time, as the two were both influenced by the recognization of complexity as a "thing" in the late 80's/early 90's. The two are really about the same thing, but JP tells it through dinosaurs. While I have the floor, I've mused lately that Jurassic Park is like the perfect scary morali…

You'd like Chaos by James Gleick

Re: Ask HN: What books have made the biggest impact on your mental models?

#146

Post by orthoganol »

An anthropology textbook in college called "Culture as given, Culture as choice" - basically the good parts of Sapiens minus the preachy, questionable aspects.

Another college textbook, "Global Capitalism: Its Fall and Rise in the Twentieth Century", I think is the best book you can read if you want to understand our capitalistic societies today.

"Incognito" was great for exploring models from cognitive neuroscience, in same vein as Hofstadter works.

French Enlightenment thinkers - esp. Voltaire, Diderot, Rousseau, who are not only awesome but in my opinion articulate the core of what's actually worth defending in Western civilization, not to mention are formative of actually good political views.

German idealism, really starting with Kant to lay groundwork, and working up through Hegel, has hands down been the most wild and impactful philosophical journey I've taken. I don't recommend it unless you have some formal background or unusually strong appetite for philosophical reasoning, or (not including Kant) you'll probably just dismiss it or simply not be able to meet the exorbitant time demands required to reach a satisfying level of understanding.

Writers like Borges, Calvino, theater of the absurd - just plain, intellectually stimulating fun.

Disclaimer, I like contemporary 'critical theory' tinkers too, because they make you think outside the box.

Re: Ask HN: What books have made the biggest impact on your mental models?

#147

Post by LrnByTeach »

austenallred wrote: post #16

Fantastic question. The selfish gene - for understanding human behavior Meditations of Marcus Aurelius - for understanding how to be content Debt, the first 5,000 years - for understanding money and finance from the ground up Wright Brothers - for understanding how technological breakthroughs happen Snowball (Warren Buffet), Andrew Carnegie and Rockefeller biographies - for understanding the mental mindset to win in…

Great to see my favorites here ...

> Snowball (Warren Buffet), Andrew Carnegie and Rockefeller biographies - for understanding the mental mindset to win in business (it's not what you think)

> Hackers and painters - for understanding startups and how/why they work

> Essentialism, the disciplined pursuit of less and Walden - for understanding how "stuff" gets in the way of happiness

Re: Ask HN: What books have made the biggest impact on your mental models?

#148

Post by vpribish »

Goedel, Escher, Bach -- If you're reading this page you will dig this book.

Guns, Germs, and Steel -- how circumstance drove civilizations. Fun storytelling even if it's a bit too "just-so". definitely trains you to look at any situation and seek it's origins with less initial judgement.

The Visual Display of Quantitive Information -- gets at the essence of communication and medium. more than it seems!

The Alchemy of Finance -- "reflexivity", but if you're also interested in Soros or some finance storytelling it's worth it.

The Selfish Gene -- as everyone else has said.

The Prize -- the history of oil. huh? yeah. Likely to change how you look at the history of technology, government, power, the saudis, and geopolitics.

Re: Ask HN: What books have made the biggest impact on your mental models?

#149

Post by phugoid »

I'm bracing for a serious downvote... I have to admit that Anthony Robbins had a big influence on my thinking, particularly with "Awaken the Giant Within." The message was - you can control how you feel.

Nearly twenty years later, I can see the limitations of his ideas - the danger of creating an arbitrary belief system for yourself and the selfishness of simply deciding what you want and rigging everything in your existence to get it. I also came to believe it's OK to not be happy all the time. But I will always respect Robbins' direct explanations of human motivation and how it can be nudged.

That and 'Single Variable Calculus; Early Transcendentals'; the universe is about change and math can model nearly all of it.

Re: Ask HN: What books have made the biggest impact on your mental models?

#150

Post by adammcnamara »

Food Rules by Michael Pollan - for understanding food and nutrition

Sapiens - for understanding what it means to be human

The Lessons of History by Will and Ariel Durant - for understanding groups of humans (civilization)

The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor by Howard Marks - for understanding investing

Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin To Munger by Peter Bevelin - for understanding mental models in general

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