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

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

#151

The Selfish Gene by Dawkins. The gene is the unit of replication, and this affects every process in this universe.

That book also gave us the term "meme" which, in its original form, is way more interesting than "animated GIFs spread on social media."

It really is underappreciated how much 4chan has shaped Internet, and now mainstream, culture.

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

#152
"Basic Economics" by Thomas Sowell. Not an easy read, but it deeply changed the way I think about incentive structures and the law of unintended consequences. It's a tough pill to swallow for people (like myself) who cling to utopian ideas, but the older I get the more I realize we must live in the world as it exists, with human nature as it really is. Dreaming of a better world is counter-productive if one does not engage with reality. We can build a better world, but only by being honest about the current state of things.

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

#156

The Design of Everyday Things makes me rethink every user interaction or problem I face, and not just at work. Every time I open a door, I begin to think about that experience. Recently, Educated by Tara Westover, and in the past The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls, both have taught me to approach individuals with the true ignorance of their lives that I have. You don't know where people come from and what life led th…

Please do go on, you seem to have similar taste to mine (Why We Sleep and Design of Everyday Things) so I'd love to know which other books make it into your top 10 or whatever.
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