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Ask HN: What book changed your life?

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Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life?

#491

Post by ericfrazier »

code_runner wrote: post #46
ericfrazier wrote: post #36

Isaac Asimov's Guide To The Bible. An agnostic atheist historian analyzes the history of every line of every book in the bible. Asimov is a good writer and he makes the bible a fun read.

This sounds super interesting. Did it have any impact on your own beliefs?

Like Asimov I am an agnostic atheist and was so when I read this work. The interesting thing about his Guide To The Bible is there is no snarkiness. He examines it from a historical perspective giving the factual historical accuracy of each line based on what the historical records actually show from the time. Plus, he was a language expert and the background information he provides in his book on how some of the words were translated from Hebrew to Latin and then to English, etc., is stunning. If anything, this book furthered my agnostic atheism.

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life?

#492

Post by ericfrazier »

yucky wrote: post #199
ericfrazier wrote: post #36

Isaac Asimov's Guide To The Bible. An agnostic atheist historian analyzes the history of every line of every book in the bible. Asimov is a good writer and he makes the bible a fun read.

>agnostic atheist I don't think I've seen these words used together. I've always understood the difference to be that an atheist is as sure in his beliefs as the religious zealot, each with the same amount of proof backing their opinions up. An agnostic realizing this lack of proof simply says "I don't know".

Agnostic atheist: Someone who lacks belief in a specific religion or god but doesn't rule out the possibility of those religions or gods being true and real. They don't personally believe but aren't egotistical enough to speak in absolutes regarding the unknown.

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life?

#493

Post by torbTurret »

TimTheTinker wrote: post #476
torbTurret wrote: post #474

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The attractive option of atheism bit. Plenty of other reasons why someone would turn to atheism. Eg the massive occurrence/support/obfuscation of sex abuse in the Catholic Church.

Ah, understood. I didn't mean characterize atheists or conversions to atheism. It's just that from my own frame of reference, that's the most attractive aspect of atheism.

Misinterpreted on my end, then - nothing personal!

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life?

#494

Post by jesuslop »

rsync wrote: post #462
wombatpm wrote: post #304

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All of the prequel stuff and the books post Chapterhouse Dune are what happens when children take over the family business and run it into the ground, set it on fire, and grind the wreckage into dust. They are like the Highlander 2 of book sequels. Or imagine if Jar Jar Binks from Episode 1 was the best part of all three prequel movies made by a George Lucas with less talent.

Unpopular opinion but … as a lifelong Dune acolyte, I think Chapterhouse is favorite one after the original…

Chapterhouse was very decent, the whole series with ups and downs are works of art. Sad that Herbert died before closing the cycle.

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life?

#496

Post by jesuslop »

labarilem wrote: post #3

Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid Introduced me to the beauty of logic and its limits. Also gave me solid mathematical thinking foundations. Pro tip: Try listening to Bach while you read about Bach.

+1 for influenced. A charismatic high school philosophy teacher recommended it to us and it prompted me to read G's collected works they had in my uni library. Came up liking more the set theoretic bit than the incompleteness conundrum.

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life?

#497

Post by jesuslop »

Existenceblinks wrote: post #333
Existenceblinks wrote: post #329

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…

Downvote? For science based books and non fictions? OP asks for what books changed your life, not books you like . You could say every single book changed your life, but that is as useful as my answer that said none .

I upvoted, audience should not confuse disagreement with inapropriateness. If you disagree, explain in a reply why.

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life?

#498

Post by JonathanBuchh »

kirso wrote: post #439
kaladin-jasnah wrote: post #249

The Stormlight Archive (series) by Brandon Sanderson has probably changed my life the most. I don't think I've enjoyed a book as much or have had one mean as much to me as I've have with this series. The series is incredibly inspirational since despite being a high fantasy novel. In fear of spoiling the plot, I'm being vague: it tracks the stories of (multiple) people who go through difficult life situations and lear…

I have heard so much about Sanderson but never read anything. Where should I start?

There is a page titled "Where do I start?" on Brandon Sanderson's website: https://www.brandonsanderson.com/where-do-i-start/

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life?

#499

Post by silent_cal »

tasty_freeze wrote: post #250
no-dr-onboard wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m so excited by this comment. 1) As gp said, the historical grammatical hermeneutic is the way to go for interpretation. And 2) the book of Ecclesiastes is definitely a beautiful way to stay grounded. Just the mere fact that Solomon, the author, had access to everything his age could offer and still ended up writing Ecclesiastes Ch 11 is mind blowing. Everything passes away. This world, your legacy, your wealth, me…

> Nihilism then?”. The Bible unabashedly says “yes, if you don’t have God” I am not trying to argue theology here, just giving another perspective. I was raised an an observant Catholic household, and I went every week from ages 5-19 and missed only a few times due to illness. But I never believed, I just don't have a spiritual bone in my body. None of what you quoted from Solomon about the impermanence of our materi…

I think you're not driving far enough to the conclusion of what you're saying. If there is no afterlife, then eventually there will be nobody left in the world, in which case nothing that anyone had ever done or said would have really mattered.

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life?

#500

Post by silent_cal »

tasty_freeze wrote: post #382
TimTheTinker wrote: post #370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It is a colossal failure of imagination to think that without God people must believe nothing matters. I haven't ever talked to an unbeliever who believes nothing matters, though I've heard of nihilist philosophers. I suspect non-philosophers who believe in nihilism usually have something from which they're trying to escape; they're not being honest with themselves. Of course each moment matters - it's a time of li…

Yes, I'm sure it is scary if you have lead your life assuming that there was a blissful afterlife. But you must recognize that that was Jesus' main selling point: follow me and you'll have eternal life. Judaism believed that when a person dies, they are simply gone. Yet somehow they found purpose and meaning and weren't frightened of a yawning chasm of eternal emptiness. > when we all die and no humans are left, that…

Jews did not think that people were simply gone after death. Read about "Sheol", for example.
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