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Great list. Stealing the ones I haven't read.
I will warn you that reading Neuropath left me feeling depressed for a couple weeks. It's a great book, but the conclusions it might lead you to may not make you happy.
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I'm definitely pro-capitalism personally, but I think a collection of books that offer a convincing argument towards another perspective would be well received in the HN community. You should consider posting some.
I have to agree with this. I have strong opinions about economic and political systems, but I also recognize these are some of the most contentious questions and viewpoints out there. In light of that, a thoughtful and reasonable look at alternatives is the best way to reduce some of that contention.
It's more pragmatic, aka not Marx/theory but it has some good arguments against our current econ/legal framework.
Goedel, Escher, Bach -- If you're reading this page you will dig this book. Guns, Germs, and Steel -- how circumstance drove civilizations. Fun storytelling even if it's a bit too "just-so". definitely trains you to look at any situation and seek it's origins with less initial judgement. The Visual Display of Quantitive Information -- gets at the essence of communication and medium. more than it seems! The Alchemy of…
By the way,Guns, Germs, and Steel, while an interesting book, and brings an interesting perspective, is largely discredited from what I've read.
Fantastic question. The selfish gene - for understanding human behavior Meditations of Marcus Aurelius - for understanding how to be content Debt, the first 5,000 years - for understanding money and finance from the ground up Wright Brothers - for understanding how technological breakthroughs happen Snowball (Warren Buffet), Andrew Carnegie and Rockefeller biographies - for understanding the mental mindset to win in…
> Debt, the first 5,000 years It's often cited on HN, but I've found it very dense and difficult to read.
Poor Charlie's Almanack. It's a compilation of talks and essays from Charlie Munger, Warren Buffet's business partner. This book has single-handedly changed my invest strategies and mindset. Instead of trying to buy low and sell high, Berkshire Hathaway holds a large cash position, until they find something they consider to be a sure bet, take a large stake and hold. I now have the quote "Be right and hold tight" wri…
Poor Charlie's Almanack is a fine book, but as it's just a collection of speeches and short stories the content is somewhat unstructured. I prefer "Seeking Wisdom from Darwin To Munger" by Peter Bevelin: https://www.amazon.com/Seeking-Wisdom-Darwin-Munger-3rd/dp/1...
- The Long Tail, by Chris Anderson
- The Blue Ocean Strategy, by W. Chan Kim
- On the shortness of life, by Seneca
- 1984, by George Orwell
Hmm. Not to repeat, I think I must dig deep into the archives... Korzybski, Alfred. Science and Sanity. Institute of GS, 1958. [1] The Institute of General Semantics has a current website [2], is on Facebook, and has several articles on Wikipedia.org [3]. One of the mind-bending premises (Wikipedia.org): "Non-Aristotelianism: While Aristotle wrote a true definition gives the essence of the thing defined ..., general…
Masters Of Doom - The value of an unbalanced life and focused hard work. Also, how to start a startup. A really fun read, to boot. Fooled By Randomness - a) Survivorship bias. b) If you look at revealed preferences, people choose regular small gains with a rare huge loss over regular small losses and a rare huge gain even though that choice is -ev. c) Much more! Hackers and Painters - One of the most insightful, subv…
Getting More - Stuart Diamond. I still think this is the best book on the art of negotiation. Getting Things Done - David Allen. If you have adult ADHD like me, and you haven't read this, it's the first system that's really worked for productivity for me. Man's Search for Meaning - Victor Frankl. Living Buddha, Living Christ - Thich Nhat Hanh. Cosmos - Carl Sagan. The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. LeGuin. The One…