Ask HN: Which book has had the most meaningful contribution in your life? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Which book has had the most meaningful contribution in your life?

#41

Post by rramadass » Thu, Jun 22, 2023, 9:42 AM UTC

In no particular order and off the top of my head;

The Sherlock Holmes canonical stories - The importance of logical reasoning and brain over brawn. Instrumental in teaching me to think.

Physics for Entertainment (and other books) by Ya. Perelman - Beauty and understanding of Science. Instrumental in giving me a lifelong interest in Science/Technology.

Structured Computer Organization by Andrew Tanenbaum - Instrumental in teaching me the layering of abstractions by which something complex can arise from more simpler and detailed components.

Raja Yoga by Swami Vivekananda and The Science of Yoga by Swami Sivananda - Instrumental in introducing me to Hindu philosophy.

Bruce lee's fighting method (3 vols) - Instrumental in introducing me to Martial Arts and physical culture.

The above books were the ones which sparked my interest in their respective domains decades ago (late 1980s/early 1990s in India) when books were hard to come by and money wasn't available either. When i look around today, books are so easily available and yet people have stopped reading and even seem to lack curiosity.

Re: Ask HN: Which book has had the most meaningful contribution in your life?

#42

Post by gryfft » Thu, Jun 22, 2023, 10:11 AM UTC

The Art of Unix Programming had an outsized impact on my career. It laid out Unix as a sensible, simple, professional, and enjoyable way to approach computing, and chasing the hacker dream advanced my career as long as I kept that passion alive. I wouldn't really get along with esr as a person these days, but TAOUP gave me the audacity to start making money with Linux, and I'm grateful for that.

Re: Ask HN: Which book has had the most meaningful contribution in your life?

#43

Post by BOOSTERHIDROGEN » Thu, Jun 22, 2023, 10:44 AM UTC

atomicnature wrote: post #37

gizmo wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Read the micro 101 and macro 101 textbooks used by good universities. Principles of Economics by Taylor is one of the common textbooks. Macroeconomics by Mankiw is another one. Intro courses on any subject tend to be very accessible to laypeople. Sowell is unserious because he misrepresents the other side. He basically argues that when you leave everything for the market to figure out it will automatically turn out a…

Good response. Another way to understand these topics is to study practical growth stories: - Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew - Mysore State, India, Visveswaraya You study the biographies/auto biographies of ministers of these states, you see the practical challenges with getting free markets. Especially in the initial years (50-100 years of development), until you have factories, industry-oriented education system, discipli…

how the world became rich - mark koyama if you want a detailed explanations.

Re: Ask HN: Which book has had the most meaningful contribution in your life?

#44

Post by kristianp » Thu, Jun 22, 2023, 10:49 AM UTC

Re: Ask HN: Which book has had the most meaningful contribution in your life?

#45

Post by mark_l_watson » Thu, Jun 22, 2023, 1:05 PM UTC

Bertram Raphael’s book “Mind Inside Matter” in the 1970s, a precursor AI book that really fired my imagination. I didn’t start getting paid for AI related work until 1982, but that was the book that changed my professional life.

Re: Ask HN: Which book has had the most meaningful contribution in your life?

#46

Post by sowbug » Thu, Jun 22, 2023, 1:24 PM UTC

When I was seven years old, my mom got ensnared by a door-to-door World Book encyclopedia sales pitch.

That set, in turn, ensnared me. It was the closest thing in the 1970s to today's internet. I could look up almost any topic that came to mind. I could research any topic we were learning in grade school. When I was bored, I could flip through any volume and learn about whatever subject happened to present itself. I still remember the acetate sheets separating the human body into skeletal, muscular, nervous, and digestive layers. I remember the beautiful drawings of sea creatures. I even remember article typefaces.

Maybe I'd have figured this out anyway, but those encyclopedia gave me the lifelong habit of assuming that answers were out there, if you had the ability and desire to go find them. They also sparked a love of reading for fun.

Re: Ask HN: Which book has had the most meaningful contribution in your life?

#47

Post by giaour » Thu, Jun 22, 2023, 1:37 PM UTC

I'm not even sure if I would like it if I were to reread it today, but reading Of Human Bondage when I was 21 led me to rethink a lot of my life and make some pretty impactful changes (e.g., got out of an unhealthy relationship, decided to pick up a practical skill (programming) on the side while in a PhD program in comparative literature).

I guess you never really know what's going to speak to you at a given point in your life, so read widely!

Re: Ask HN: Which book has had the most meaningful contribution in your life?

#48

Post by sublatio » Thu, Jun 22, 2023, 1:39 PM UTC

Integral Life Practice by Wilber, Patten, et al. I’ve gone on to read more of Wilber, but this was the one that made Wilber’s approach finally click for me. AQAL provided a framework for understanding how various practices, disciplines, and interests I have can be mutually supportive. Career, family life, physical exercise, spiritual practice .. nothing need be left out. Similarly, the idea of the Three Faces of God/Spirit helped me see the same about the various spiritual traditions I’ve benefited from.

Re: Ask HN: Which book has had the most meaningful contribution in your life?

#49

Post by dmd » Thu, Jun 22, 2023, 1:43 PM UTC

Gödel Escher Bach, read over and over from age 10-16 (early 90s)

Re: Ask HN: Which book has had the most meaningful contribution in your life?

#50

Post by jjice » Thu, Jun 22, 2023, 1:45 PM UTC

Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez. It made me realize that I don't need much to be happy and live and that it's really possible that I can have complete financial control over my life at an early age.