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Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?

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Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?

#241

Post by quickthrower2 »

rajeshp1986 wrote: post #79
hayst4ck wrote: post #76

I would look for books that either: 1. Increase context on problems being solved 2. Improve tactics/strategies/systemic understanding 3. Improve physical health/mental health If you want to think better, I think physical health and mental health will have the highest return by far. Thinking is kind of like driving. Imagine driving a car where some parts are broken (mental health problem) or a really uncomfortable sea…

I am not able to spend enough time on solving problems and my mind wanders away. What books/resources do you suggest to improve this?

Sounds like a holistic question: depends on what is happening with you and the causes of the distraction. For example if you do 60h work weeks then maybe you simply are too tired.

Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?

#244

Post by samuell »

yboris wrote: post #148

A great general one that HN folks should enjoy: Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions by Brian Christian & Tom Griffiths https://www.amazon.com/Algorithms-Live-Computer-Science-Deci...

This one is really good.

I think the title is a bit misleading though, possibly putting some people off unneccessarily.

I found it is more about "Algorithms that govern the Universe" than some kind of recommendations for how to live.

With that title, I would have read it much sooner as well.

Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?

#245

Post by vr46 »

m-watson wrote: post #57
codethief wrote: post #34

Not any particular book but: Studying mathematics and physics has greatly improved my thinking and problem solving abilities. Already a semester or two (of real analysis, linear algebra, experimental physics, theoretical physics) would get one very far I think. As for books, https://theoreticalminimum.com/ might be a great starting point.

I often say to people that the most important thing physics gave me was being comfortable not knowing something. My math and physics education have 100% changed the way I think and address problems in life, despite not going into a physics career. Since it is a book thread: The Information: James Gleick - really made me take a step back to think about what information is and how we talk about it Reinventing Discovery…

10 points for James Gleick's The Information. Both that and Chaos blew my tiny little mind.

Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?

#246

Post by Breza »

tolleydbg wrote: post #40

This suggestion is humorous, but absolutely true: Potty Training In 3 Days. Before having children, I thought I was fairly empathetic and introspective, but raising a child helped me realize how superficial those traits in myself were. I'm being completely honest when I say this book made me a better leader and project manager - having a better understanding of the motivations of others, incentivizing those looking t…

I'm currently potty training my toddler and I completely agree with you! I also suggest How to Talk so Little Kids will Listen. That book improved my ability to empathize with both little and big people.

Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?

#247

Post by JackMorgan »

tippysdemise wrote: post #208
JackMorgan wrote: post #8

From a software engineering standpoint: - Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (doing all the exercises is key). This book helped me think about how programs run, how state is stored, how you can build out asynchronous computation, and how you can build your own languages. - Designing Data Intensive Applications. This book profoundly changed how I think about application performance and data. It describe…

> - Designing Data Intensive Applications I'm curious about how to get the most out of this one. Do you have any recommendations for how to read it? e.g. did you go front-to-back?

I started a reading club at work that met once a week and we'd assign reading about 15-30 pages a week. We'd just have a unstructured chat in the meeting. Maybe I'd prompt people with "did you learn anything interesting from this section?" if people were quiet. There were often enough questions to fill the time.

Also the book could be read out of order, so I'd regularly solicit people to join when starting a new chapter. That helped keep membership to about 5-8.

Also I suggested people put reading the book in their year goals so they'd be motivated to finish.

I think about 6 of us finished the whole book.

Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?

#248

Post by JackMorgan »

lukas099 wrote: post #154
JackMorgan wrote: post #8

From a software engineering standpoint: - Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (doing all the exercises is key). This book helped me think about how programs run, how state is stored, how you can build out asynchronous computation, and how you can build your own languages. - Designing Data Intensive Applications. This book profoundly changed how I think about application performance and data. It describe…

> Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (doing all the exercises is key). I tried this, but got stuck on the first exercise that had you prove some mathematical thing. I concluded that I was too stupid for the book.

Thankfully there's a ton of resources out there in blogs and YouTube to explain each question and answer. I got stuck and needed to use those maybe 10% of the time at least. No shame in that.
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