201–210 of 313 posts
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins, old but definitely worth the read. Changes the way you look at things.
It is both depressing and enlightening.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Tim Ferriss is like Wikipedia to me. It's a good place to start, but you will be mocked and humiliated if you only read that material.
I would hate to be involved in a community (academic or otherwise) that mocks what has been widely known to be a reliable source of information. Wikipedia, that is. Opinions on Tim Ferris vary greatly.
It's a difficult book, but some excellent reading guides exist do I highly recommend giving it a read.
"The 4-Hour Body", by Tim Ferriss. Because of that book, within 3 months I went from running completely out of breath after 2 minutes of running, to finishing a half-marathon in 2 hours. And during the prior 3 months, I had lost 15 kilos by following the "slow-carb diet" described in the book. Reading it seemed to flip a switch in my brain: before, I would think of my body as something I had little control over, whil…
In a similar vein, I'd recommend Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe. Before SS, my martial arts instructor always chided me: "Crazybear, don't power through the disarm. There are lots of guys bigger than you. Get the leverage right." Now he tells newbies: "Don't power through the disarm, it won't work on a guy like Crazybear. Get the leverage right." It's a simple how-to guide to getting strong. Just follow the progr…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would hate to be involved in a community (academic or otherwise) that mocks what has been widely known to be a reliable source of information. Wikipedia, that is. Opinions on Tim Ferris vary greatly.
What he means (I think) is that it's only a surface understanding. You won't be able to hold your own in a serious conversation with experts on the topic.
If I want to learn about a topic, wikipedia is great. If I need more information, I can look elsewhere but many times I don't need to. And except for maybe a handful of topics, I shouldn't expect to be able to seriously converse with an expert. Why should that be the goal? I think the goal is to find the answer to your questions, and that's it.
Let's see... in no particular order: * Thinking, Fast and Slow: http://amzn.to/sXQGSR - probably makes my list because I just finished it, and as he says "what you see is all there is" - we're biased towards things that come to mind easily. Actually, it is a pretty good book even looking through all the others I've read. * 1491: http://amzn.to/uaR0yf - about the Americas prior to the arrival of "Cristoforo Colombo".…
* Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson
* Slack, by Tom DeMarco (also re-read Peopleware). Both of these books are fundamental to anyone developing software within an organization.
* Delivering Happiness, by Tony Hsieh. It's not fantastic but it's helpful if you are trying to build a business.
* Tribal Leadership - recommended by the above. Not great but interesting.
* Rework - short read, worth the time.
* Managing Humans by Rands - very entertaining, useful if you manage people.
Other stuff I read is not worth mentioning in a "best books" list.
"The 4-Hour Body", by Tim Ferriss. Because of that book, within 3 months I went from running completely out of breath after 2 minutes of running, to finishing a half-marathon in 2 hours. And during the prior 3 months, I had lost 15 kilos by following the "slow-carb diet" described in the book. Reading it seemed to flip a switch in my brain: before, I would think of my body as something I had little control over, whil…
In a similar vein, I'd recommend Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe. Before SS, my martial arts instructor always chided me: "Crazybear, don't power through the disarm. There are lots of guys bigger than you. Get the leverage right." Now he tells newbies: "Don't power through the disarm, it won't work on a guy like Crazybear. Get the leverage right." It's a simple how-to guide to getting strong. Just follow the progr…
"To Kill a Mocking Bird", "Logicomix" in English. A play called "Andha Yug" (The Age of Darkness) in Hindi. English translation is also available for those interested. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0198065221/
It isn't a proper book, but Eliezer Yudkowsky's Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality was incredible. Don't judge it by the fact that it is a fanfic.
How interesting will this be if i've never read the Harry Potter series? (i've seen a couple of the movies)