Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

191–200 of 1001 posts

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

#191

Post by checkyoursudo »

My worldview-changing book was probably Stranger in a Strange Land, when I was maybe 15. I also ready Brave New World around then.

I was raised in a super religious house; for whatever reason, that one or two books started my down a path of materialism/skepticism and away from religiosity/dualism/spiritualism. It was just the start, mind you. I was probably already primed and heading that way anyway, and that just happened to be the spark. I don't mean that there were any huge insights or great revelations for me there.

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

#193

Post by citilife »

I always viewed reading a book as collecting a soul. If you fully grok a book, you grok the authors thoughts. Being able to put yourself in another persons mindset is crucial.

Speaking of "groking", Stranger in a Strange Land, Time Enough for Love and The Fountain Head have probably had the most impact on my mindset.

Each book is rather different, but in general the idea of all three is

> You have to be in life for yourself, and only you can define who you are / want to be.

That doesn't necessarily mean you need to be mean, but the idea that "greed is good", or that it's okay to be selfish, provided you think long term. It's about coming to terms and accepting you are greedy. But with that insight you can do introspection and learn about what drives you and make decisions yourself.

It's almost as if another layer of consciousness, learning about ones self.

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

#195

Post by StevePerkins »

Balgair wrote: post #122
jpollock wrote: post #75

Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People" - it changed how I approach teamwork and conversations. It made me aware of how my behaviour was limiting outcomes. :) Frankly, it made me aware that I was being an asshole and that I should change. However, it wasn't necessarily the book, but the course that I found really useful.

A LOT of people are put off by the name of the book. I would highly suggest you not judge Carnegie's book by it's cover. It is filled with brass-tacks advice and concrete examples of how to improve your own life and the lives of others around you. Though the title may seem 'manipulative', the book is anything but that. Consider the title as a marketing gimmick from 1933 and read the book nonetheless.

Indeed. The central point of the book is really the importance of human empathy. If you want to influence people, you have to consider their needs and wants rather that just being self-absorbed and entitled all the time.

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

#196

Post by reubenswartz »

motohagiography wrote: post #172

"The Dictator's Handbook" by DeMesquita and Smith is a popular take on their academic work that describes a metamodel for reasoning about power and politics that bypasses how things "may" or "should" work and talks about how they "must" work. https://www.amazon.ca/Dictators-Handbook-Behavior-Almost-Pol... And a general +1 for GEB. If you read that as a teenager, you are different for it.

This is a great book. Unfortunately, I feel like a lot of people who live in a nominal democracy see the title and think, "this doesn't apply to me." Even more unfortunately, it very much does apply to you, in, for example, the United States.

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

#197

Post by quibono »

subjectHarold wrote: post #189
scrumper wrote: post #162

Animal Farm was a really important book for me. I picked it up aged about 10 or 11 and I remember being really struck by how easily the pigs were able to exploit the other animals' grievances with humans to secure their own power. It felt like a grown-up story with some quite powerful, disturbing meanings under the covers. So I told my English teacher about it and all she told me in response was to go look up the Rus…

[flagged]

I'm not sure why you're being sarcastic, I can easily see the book having a big impact on a young person. No need to be mean or patronising.

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

#198

Post by vnorilo »

Quark and the Jaguar by Gell-Mann; emergence and complexity.

Gödel, Escher, Bach by Hofstadter; recursion.

In fiction, Gene Wolfe (Severian) and Doris Lessing (Shikasta) have rewired a considerable number of my synapses. To this day they tug at my subconscious.

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

#200

Post by coverclock »

"Measuring and Managing Performance in Organizations" by Robert D. Austin, Dorset House, 1996. Changed my entire world view. The basic idea - which Austin arrives at using an offshoot of game theory - is that all incentive systems will be gamed by the people to which they are applied, and there is no way around it.
Post reply on HN