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

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

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

201–210 of 254 posts

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

#201

Post by ageofwant »

cgmg wrote: post #176
RealityNow wrote: post #83

Debt, the first 5,000 Years (David Graeber) - Learned that most of history has been communist (eg. hunter gatherer societies), shops of the past were run on credit (eg. tally sticks), money/capitalism tended to emerge with the rise of the state, taxing to feed soldiers for war, and that the drive to pay off one's debt fueled a lot of the cruelty of mankind (eg. Hernan Cortez, Casimir). 21 Things they don't tell you a…

> Learned that free trade is generally bad for developing countries The consensus among experts on the matter is that protectionism has a negative effect on economic growth and welfare, while free trade has a positive effect. There are challenges to be sure, but free trade is most definitely a net positive for developing countries. Countries whose governments prevent their citizens from engaging in international trad…

This only holds for developed economies and trade between peers. Developing economies is much better off protecting themselves against external competition. Of course developed markets would decry this "protectionism", they after all, only care about their own gain.

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

#203

Post by johnsimer »

Innovator's dilemma & Innovator's solution- why big companies almost always get beaten by startups and how to overcome this

10x Rule by Grant Cardone - you must take 10x more action than you think to get success

Awaken the Giant Within - you can motivate yourself to do anything via the "Pain Pleasure Principle"

Bold: How to go big, make wealth, and change the world - some strategies from Musk, Bezos, Diamandis/Singularity U

The Art of Profitability - Coca-cola from a 2-Liter costs $.02/oz , Coca-cola from a restaurant costs $.20/oz

my full list here: https://goo.gl/9SD8b6

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

#204

Post by kyoob »

ssivark wrote: post #11

Among my recent reads: 1. Finite and infinite games, by James Carse 2. Antifragile, by Nassim Taleb (IMHO the book rambles on a little too much; some of his hour long YouTube talks convey the ideas almost as well) 3. Obedience to authority, by Stanley Milgram

Finite and Infinite Games blew my mind. I re-read it every couple of years and it recalibrates me every time.

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

#205

Post by ellius »

• The Prize

• The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

• The Lean Startup

• Poke the Box

• The Elements of Computing Systems

• The Death of Common Sense

• Up the Organization

• The Personal MBA

• The Wisdom of No-Escape

• The Adapted Mind

• Brain Rules

• Getting Things Done

• On Writing

• Steal Like An Artist

• George Orwell: A Collection of Essays

And these are technically not books, but Glenn Greenwald's "Speech to the Massachusetts ACLU" and the Christopher Hitchens speech criticizing the proposed Canadian hate speech law.

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

#206

Post by Daishiman »

cgmg wrote: post #176
RealityNow wrote: post #83

Debt, the first 5,000 Years (David Graeber) - Learned that most of history has been communist (eg. hunter gatherer societies), shops of the past were run on credit (eg. tally sticks), money/capitalism tended to emerge with the rise of the state, taxing to feed soldiers for war, and that the drive to pay off one's debt fueled a lot of the cruelty of mankind (eg. Hernan Cortez, Casimir). 21 Things they don't tell you a…

> Learned that free trade is generally bad for developing countries The consensus among experts on the matter is that protectionism has a negative effect on economic growth and welfare, while free trade has a positive effect. There are challenges to be sure, but free trade is most definitely a net positive for developing countries. Countries whose governments prevent their citizens from engaging in international trad…

You are oversimplifying a tremendously complex issue. You can have a net positive wealth creation that's reserved for only certain economic sectors while leaving out everyone else. Absolute gains in economic growth are not really indicative of life satisfaction towards everyone in society

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

#207

Post by mrmyers »

Modeling the world generally (as in, why mathematics works and can apply to the real world):

  =Bertrand Russell=
  * An Inquiry into Meaning and Truth
  * A Theory of Knowledge
  * Logic and Knowledge
  =W.V. Quine=
  * Word and Object
  * Mathematical Logic
  =Norbert Weiner=
  * Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine
  =Smullyan=
  * Diagonalization and Self Reference
Squishy Human Things:

  Thomas Kuhn      - The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
  Norbert Weiner   - The Human Use of Human-Beings
  Bertrand Russell - A History of Western Philosophy
  Karl Popper      - The Open Society and Its Enemies
  Daniel Dennet    - Consciousness Explained
  E. Abbot Abbot   - Flatland

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

#209

Post by dwaltrip »

patrickdavey wrote: post #197
dwaltrip wrote: post #42

"Godel Escher Bach" and "I am a strange loop". I only made it half way through GEB, however the latter is a bit easier to get through. For me, these books marked the beginning of a lifelong journey of "self" contemplation and intellectual/philosophical exploration.

I might have to "Godel Escher Bach" again after reading these comments. I found it incredibly dense and hard to read.. My own pick for a book that made me think differently is "crucial conversations".

I might try out "I am a strange loop". It's more approachable.
Post reply on HN