Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actually changed your life? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actually changed your life?

#221

Post by SZJX » Sat, Sep 22, 2018, 10:57 AM UTC

Might be a bit of an unconventional pick, but Muv-Luv Alternative, the highest rated Visual Novel of all time, is simply life-changing (a sentiment shared by quite a few reviewers). It's especially powerful against tendencies of procrastination and escapism (which I believe are present in everybody to varying degrees). One shall never ever run away from any challenges or hardship after experiencing what the protagonist and the other characters have been through. A story perfectly suited to that particular medium and so incredibly convincing. Don't think it will ever be surpassed by any similar work.

(The ratings sorted on VNDB: https://vndb.org/v/all?q=;fil=tagspoil-0;rfil=;o=d;s=rating See how MLA leaves every other VN in its trail. It's absurd.)

Re: Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actually changed your life?

#222

Post by SZJX » Sat, Sep 22, 2018, 11:23 AM UTC

_rpd wrote: post #66

madmax108 wrote: post #49

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse Never really been one to enjoy popular books on philosophy (Alchemist was overrated, Monk who sold his Ferrari cliched, The Secret just boring ...IMO) and picked this up at a used book store. The book truly put a new perspective on life for me. Perhaps it was a combination of the time when I read the book: Undue stress, massive imposter syndrome, that feeling of not moving ahead in life, a…

I'll add The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse because it saved me from decades of pointless game playing. (Actually just read everything by Hermann Hesse).

Sounds interesting that a book about "game" saved you from "game playing". Not sure what sort of game you're exactly referring to, though IMO video games that let you grind against scripted NPCs indeed could waste one a lot of time. However games that pit you against human opponents, when practiced adequately, can actually teach you a lot. There was a piece about how chess playing is being taught in the Wall Street to train decision making under pressure. Many video games can also help you achieve similar effects. So it's not all negative.

Re: Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actually changed your life?

#223

Post by eric24234 » Sun, Sep 23, 2018, 6:59 AM UTC

mayankkaizen wrote: post #203

eric24234 wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hindu god Ganesha was created to curb Buddhism and thats why Buddhism is not famous in india.

I am Hindu but unaware of this fact. Though I'll do some googling but can you provide your source and reasoning behind that? I am aware Shankaracharya did try to curb Buddhism but I wasn't aware of ganesha angle.

All the states in india have the practice of people having their caste name as their surname except in the state of Tamilnadu(about 70 million population). This was due to one atheist man's effort who opposed the caste system Periyar(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periyar_E._V._Ramasamy). He broke the ganesha statue on the day of buddha's birthday as an act of protesting the use of ganesha to instigate the religious violence for political benefits. Ganesha was created to stop people from converting to buddhism. That's why ganesha was always found under the palm tree which is buddha's place. Also ganesha statue is made gigantic and is taken in to streets and made more entertaining festival inorder to create more merriness and keep people more engaged and not to feel left out. But at the same time Ganesha statue is disolved in water after about 10 days, this is beacause the non-brahmin people who were allowed to do the priest duty for 10 days should not become a competion to the brahmin priests.

Re: Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actually changed your life?

#224

Post by eric24234 » Sun, Sep 23, 2018, 7:02 AM UTC

chauhankiran wrote: post #212

eric24234 wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hindu god Ganesha was created to curb Buddhism and thats why Buddhism is not famous in india.

Ganesha was way before ( even before Krishna ) Buddha. So, not sure from where you get this to info.

Krishna and his super power and other avatars of krishna is a belief and Buddha's existence is a recorded fact. Ganesha's references are found in the literature only after the existence of Buddha. That's why no reference to ganesha is found in vedas.

Re: Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actually changed your life?

#225

Post by juanuys » Sun, Sep 23, 2018, 12:23 PM UTC

_rpd wrote: post #66

madmax108 wrote: post #49

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse Never really been one to enjoy popular books on philosophy (Alchemist was overrated, Monk who sold his Ferrari cliched, The Secret just boring ...IMO) and picked this up at a used book store. The book truly put a new perspective on life for me. Perhaps it was a combination of the time when I read the book: Undue stress, massive imposter syndrome, that feeling of not moving ahead in life, a…

I'll add The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse because it saved me from decades of pointless game playing. (Actually just read everything by Hermann Hesse).

I would love it if you could elaborate on how the book saved you from decades of game playing. (If not here, email in profile.) I've started this book now, but also an avid gamer and hobbyist game maker.