401–410 of 539 posts
The most pivotal that springs to mind is The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy, read as an early teen. I think this is what fully opened my eyes to the world of nerdishness out of which I have built a career and which has shaped my interests.
1. The power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
Helped me stay present. Helped me overcome past regrets and future stresses
2. Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy by David D. Burns
Helped me understand how my thought process was impacting my mood and fueling anxiety
3. Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High
Saved my failing relationship
4. The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
Helped me overcome some of my compulsive behaviors
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> but rather an evidence based approach that uses the Bible to interpret itself as it was designed to do. Can you expand? Did you create this approach yourself or just read the Bible directly?
No, I did not create this approach at all. It is the approach taken by Jehovah's Witnesses who started out by questioning beliefs and looking directly at the Bible to figure out whether a belief was Biblical or not. That's how they came to the conclusion that hellfire is a lie and many other things that the Christendom accepts aren't actually Biblical. It's a very balanced approach. It also avoids all the "God hates…
The Hebrew alphabet initially didn't have vowels, so the name was written as YHWH. When vowels were introduced they decided to write the vowels for Adonai above YHWH, to remind readers not to say his name, as it was too holy. Eventually people forgot this logic and assumed it was the normal spelling of his name.
First and foremost: The Bible. Not the watered down "everybody goes to heaven" theology that most people subscribe to, but rather an evidence based approach that uses the Bible to interpret itself as it was designed to do. Secondarily, this book saved my life in the sense that it helped me understand my depression, a clinical depression so deep that my psychologist had never seen such a thing previously: Get Out of Y…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
No, I did not create this approach at all. It is the approach taken by Jehovah's Witnesses who started out by questioning beliefs and looking directly at the Bible to figure out whether a belief was Biblical or not. That's how they came to the conclusion that hellfire is a lie and many other things that the Christendom accepts aren't actually Biblical. It's a very balanced approach. It also avoids all the "God hates…
Ironically, the name "Jehovah" is a misunderstanding. It comes from applying the vowels from "Adonai" (my lord) to "Yahweh" (the name of God). The Hebrew alphabet initially didn't have vowels, so the name was written as YHWH. When vowels were introduced they decided to write the vowels for Adonai above YHWH, to remind readers not to say his name, as it was too holy. Eventually people forgot this logic and assumed it…
The funny thing about it is that we also don't know how Jesus' name would have been pronounced for the same reasons, but nobody ever has an issue using "Jesus", but people say "Jehovah" and it causes a stir. ¯\(º_o)/¯
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> Sanderson is a Christian To be more specific and accurate he’s a Mormon. I’m told that the Cosmere owes a lot to Mormon theology, like the henotheism, embodiment of God and non-trinitarianism.
I was at Brandon's home just yesterday, although he wasn't present. Next time I see him, I'll have to ask him about this. I am also a Mormon, but nothing in the Cosmere stood out to me as being directly inspired by our religious beliefs. But I could certainly be wrong.
I hope the above came across as positive, it was meant that way
from Victor Frankl, Auschwitz survivor and founder of Logotherapy.
None, seriously. Sorry for not giving any inspiration. I have only read technical books like Static/Dynamics mechanics, TCP/IP, Material Science, mostly engineering stuff etc. Because I wouldn't want much reading about someone else's opinion or view of truth. People may find they are useful for learning broad spectrum of perspective, but I find that they all fall into limited set of views that I never be surprised to…
On the other hand, books that change the way to think about life can have a more profound long lasting impact, even if they are just opinions.
"Surely you're joking Mr. Feynman" - sort of like an autobiography of Richard Feynman but from recordings of some conversations. I'm a scientist and this resonated with me a lot. "The Game" - very immature and sophomoric book. I was given this book by an acquaintance who was also geeky like me. I was painfully shy of girls until grad school, and this book gave me much needed confidence to talk to the opposite gender.…