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Ask HN: What book changed your life?

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Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life?

#181

Post by mooreds »

themadturk wrote: post #178

A Wrinkle In Time, by Madeleine L'Engle I probably read it in fourth or fifth grade, not too many years after it was published. It was definitely the first science fiction novel I ever read. It wasn't until many years later that I saw how foundational to my worldview it was that my first SF book had a female protagonist. I was going to give a few other examples of truly life-changing works (LOTR, Dune, Neuromancer),…

For me it was "The Demon Lord of Karanda" by David Eddings. Picked it out randomly from the "Bookmobile" (a mobile library I had access to in my younger years).

Introduced me to the world of fantasy and science fiction, which has been a source of enjoyment since then. I don't know if it pushed me towards my current occupation as a SWE, but it sure didn't hurt.

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life?

#183

Post by jhbadger »

crashingintoyou wrote: post #48
s0teri0s wrote: post #11

Steven Pinker's "Better Angels of Our Nature" and the sequel "Enlightenment Now" briefly helped to restore my faith that humanity is not entirely an evil virus best gone the way of the dinosaurs. Don't get me wrong though, these books are not easy reads. In the first one Pinker does spend an inordinate amount of time cataloging humanity's centuries of evils against itself before he can make the case that we're doing…

Going to assume that your use of "briefly" there is preceding your attempt at a short synopsis, rather than that your views have shifted again. Personally I'm depressingly cynical when it comes to Pinker's views, looking at, e.g., https://twitter.com/robinhanson/status/1496685550241292293 and then thinking about how now, given modern weaponry one man's decision could basically destroy all life on earth. A few billion…

I have sympathy for what he is trying to do (actually put data on what people traditionally just use "gut feeling" for) but yes, it is the sort of thing that might sound sadly misguided depending on how things turn out, much as how late 19th century writers like Spencer suggested that the trend of the 19th century suggested that things like war and famine were fading away not predicting the world wars or the famines of Stalin and Mao in the 20th.

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life?

#184

Post by rg111 »

escapegoat wrote: post #127

_The Mind Illuminated_ Hasn't changed my life yet but it might (found it three days ago out on hoopla.com). I say this as someone who has given meditation practice a good college try (more than a year at a time of daily practice) on a couple of occasions. Most books say just keep going and you will eventually fart pixie dust. This book says you can reach advanced practice in under a year BUT requires a consistent one…

It has changed my life to some degree- very clearly and significantly.

Yet, I read only one chapter and following the advice and instruction to the letter for almost a month.

I am feeling the deep joy from meditating just ten minutes. I know I am not supposed to get attached to this deep bliss feeling, but it validates my efforts.

I read the first chapter a few months back, but did not really start following it until I started reading W. Rahula's What the Buddha Taught and Bhante Gunaratana's Mindfulness in Plain English.

I am deeply attracted to the Theravada Buddhism philosophy. And there is no place of blind faith in it.

So, my serious attempt to meditation started after I learned more about Buddha and his way. I had to try it.

I much more calm and composed. With better concentration and more self-control. Procrastination has left me. And I have insights much easier than before. I am an overally better thinker, now. And I give the credit to meditation.

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life?

#185

Post by rg111 »

labarilem wrote: post #3

Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid Introduced me to the beauty of logic and its limits. Also gave me solid mathematical thinking foundations. Pro tip: Try listening to Bach while you read about Bach.

Same goes for me. Changed my outlook towards any intellectual matter or pursuit.

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life?

#186

Post by jhbadger »

Gualdrapo wrote: post #6

One of the recommended lectures on a logic class I had at my school, which was run by missionary nuns from Minnessota (and the teacher himself was catholic), was Carl Sagan's The demon-haunted world. It turned me into an atheist.

Yes, In a lot of ways Sagan was a forerunner of the "New Atheists" like Dawkins and Dennet, but I think The Demon-Haunted World was more effective because it didn't go the confrontational "religion is evil" route rather than just gently point out the flaws in the religious world view and so could actually convince some people who weren't already atheists.

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life?

#187

Post by ya1sec »

Three Novels - Samuel Beckett

The Upanishads - Eknath Easwaran translation

Season in Hell - Arthur Rimbaud

Modern Man in Search of a Soul - Carl Jung

Abandoned Fragments - Franz Kafka

Philosophical Grammar - Ludwig Wittgenstein

The Gay Science - Friedrich Nietzsche

Hapworth 16, 1924 - JD Salinger

The Dream Machine - M. Mitchell Waldrop

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life?

#189

Post by rg111 »

shantnutiwari wrote: post #18

The Gita-- Eknath Easwaran's translation is the best Gilgamesh--Stephen Mitchell's translation Dear Author, you need to quit by Becca Syme-- a book for fiction writers, it opened my eyes to the fact that I dont need to follow the advice of "experts", thats its okay to write what I love and keep my writing a fun hobby. I only recently read this, and it allowed me to restart writing after a 2-3 year gap.

> Easwaran's translation is the best

If you want a balanced, philosophical, explanatory, and a direct version, go with the translation by Servapalli Radhakrishnan. SR was an educator, philosopher, and the first Vice President of free India. He later became the President of India.

As far as I know Hacker News and the people that dwell on it, this translation [0] will be an ideal fit.

[0]: https://harpercollins.co.in/product/the-bhagavad-gita/

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life?

#190

Post by rg111 »

kradeelav wrote: post #26

"The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching" - Thich Nhat Hanh It's not overly spiritual, but there's a relaxing, reassuring, thoughtful, and un-judging sense of peace that permeates this books. Brought me out of a really dark place when I was looking for reasons to keep existing.

"What the Buddha Taught" by Walpola Rahula is an extremely good book.

It limits itself only to direct teachings of Buddha, and it explains the core concepts and teachings of Buddhism by explaining everything simply.

The author is a revered scholar and his style of writing is excellent.

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