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Ask HN: Books with a high signal to noise ratio?

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Re: Ask HN: Books with a high signal to noise ratio?

#51

For me it was Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond. It blew my mind on almost every section! I loved it I suppose coz it answered a lot of questions I'd growing up and a bit more. I've recommended it to everyone in my family. One critique I received was that there is repetition of ideas but I think its because primarily humans carry past successes anf failures so most of the changes a…

While no doubt Guns, Germs, and Steel is a good work, I will be hesitant to subscribe to ideas it presents, carte blanche. Please see this reddit discussion[1]

[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAnthropology/comments/1rzm07/wha...

Re: Ask HN: Books with a high signal to noise ratio?

#52
Rising Up and Rising Down: Some Thoughts on Violence, Freedom and Urgent Means

Author: William T. Vollmann

It's a 7 volume set, but has a one volume abridged version which is one of the more fascinating and thought-provoking books I have ever read. I rate it very closely to GEB.

Highly recommended.

Re: Ask HN: Books with a high signal to noise ratio?

#53
1) A2K Handbook, free online, http://a2knetwork.org/handbook

"Access to Knowledge (A2K) is the umbrella term for a movement that aims to create more equitable public access to the products of human culture and learning. The ultimate objective of the movement is to create a world in which educational and cultural works are accessible to all, and in which consumers and creators alike participate in a vibrant ecosystem of innovation and creativity."

2) Sci-Fi author L. Sprague de Camp's 1963 book, "The Ancient Engineers", covers the period from early Egyptian engineering up to Galileo. http://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Engineers-L-Sprague-Camp/dp/03...

“History, technology, culture, finance, and sociology intersect here. It’s not history from the top (kings and such, which some say is dry), nor history from the bottom (average people, which is necessarily endless and perhaps not very revealing). It’s history from the nuts-and-bolts middle – how structures were built, how materials were transported, how wars were fought. When you know this sort of foundational information, everything else becomes more real.”

3) Paul Calter, "Squaring the Circle: Geometry in Art & Architecture", http://www.amazon.com/Squaring-Circle-Geometry-Art-Architect...

"the combination of the subject knowledge of design, architecture, art, geometry, philospohy, music theory, and mathematics ... Calter includes the basic lessons and explanations of a regular Geometry course in his book, but then he interweaves an integrated classical curriculum (based on deductive reasoning)"

4) Georges Ifrah, "Universal History of Numbers", http://www.amazon.com/Universal-History-Numbers-Prehistory-I...

"the first complete account of the invention and evolution of numbers the world over ... Dubbed the "Indiana Jones of numbers," Georges Ifrah traveled all over the world for ten years to uncover the little-known details of this amazing story. From India to China, and from Egypt to Chile, Ifrah talked to mathematicians, historians, archaeologists, and philosophers."

Re: Ask HN: Books with a high signal to noise ratio?

#55
post #52

Rising Up and Rising Down: Some Thoughts on Violence, Freedom and Urgent Means Author: William T. Vollmann It's a 7 volume set, but has a one volume abridged version which is one of the more fascinating and thought-provoking books I have ever read. I rate it very closely to GEB. Highly recommended.

GEB?

Re: Ask HN: Books with a high signal to noise ratio?

#56
"Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined" by Steven Pinker

Bill Gates calls it one of the most important books he's read in his life. "People often ask me what is the best book I’ve read in the last year. Steven Pinker’s The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined stands out as one of the most important books I’ve read – not just this year, but ever." http://www.gatesnotes.com/Books/The-Better-Angels-of-Our-Nat...

Re: Ask HN: Books with a high signal to noise ratio?

#58
post #51

For me it was Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond. It blew my mind on almost every section! I loved it I suppose coz it answered a lot of questions I'd growing up and a bit more. I've recommended it to everyone in my family. One critique I received was that there is repetition of ideas but I think its because primarily humans carry past successes anf failures so most of the changes a…

While no doubt Guns, Germs, and Steel is a good work, I will be hesitant to subscribe to ideas it presents, carte blanche. Please see this reddit discussion[1] [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAnthropology/comments/1rzm07/wha...

I'm sure I find books to read in this "Ask HN" but your comment is exactly what's the issue with it.

So the OP asks for high signal to noise ratio. There comes a recommendation, and then I read some good discussion on Reddit on how the book is actually kind of wrong.

This begs the question: What's "high signal to noise" anyways? Someone who has read 10 books on a subject will find barely anything new. One who just starts out might find "gems" on every other page.

And also: If a recommendation here in this "Ask HN" is given and then debunked as mediocre, how sure can one be to actually find a book with high signal to noise without reading the book?

In that sense: Thanks for your comment. In-depth discussions like the one on Reddit is really necessary, because I, as a starter, have no clue how to evaluate a book. Every recommendation should probably come with a lengthy discussion about its accuracy by people who know the subject :)

Re: Ask HN: Books with a high signal to noise ratio?

#60
One of the most important books in my life has been

The Way of Zen by Alan Watts

(I listened to it as an audiobook). It changed the way I think and feel (or at least how I react to feelings). Other interesting books about philosophy/spirituality are

Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle

The last one is the least recommended, I'm not sure I got anything out of it, but I read it in in the same period of time as the ones above, so I might have learned something subconsciously.

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