A lot of people here are offering up books with life advice (though I saw a recommendation for Sapiens which I can also highly recommend) which may or may not help depending on what your problem is. Why not just practice introspection daily through meditation instead? For some motivation and evidence on what it can do for you, I'd recommend "Why Buddhism is True". In spite of its title, the book aims to give some logic behind mindfulness meditation. If specifically you have been dealing with chronic low mood as a result of your life shattering crisis, I'd also recommend "The Mindful Way Through Depression". If that isn't an issue for you, I personally enjoy Jon Kabat Zinn's writing in general so I'd research and pick up one of his books. Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg and Jack Kornfield are some others in this field who have a lot of experience teaching mindfulness meditation in a Western context and have a lot of very useful advice when it comes to practicing mindfulness meditation. There is another popular "how to meditate" book out there called The Mind Illuminated which I see recommended on HN every now and then, though I personally feel it is a bit overkill (it is more of a textbook). With regard to Alan Watts, I've only read "The Wisdom of Insecurity" and personally found it to be a waste of time and money, though I guess you can read it online for free so that saves you the money at least :).
Ask HN: Which books have made you introspect?
51–60 of 389 posts
Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you introspect?
#52Flowers for Algernon, without a shadow of a doubt, had a huge impact on how I regard intelligence in others and myself, and it also put the pursuit of success into a new context for me. Lastly, it made me evaluate the prospects one has going into life, with respect to what is (and isn't) under once's control.
Honestly, "Flowers for Algernon" is the most frightening story I ever read. It made me realize that whatever intelligence I have right now I got basically by accident and that I may lose it at any time. There's nothing I can do to prevent this and - in case it happens - (EDIT: in the end) I won't even recognize what I lost. The only thing I can do is to leave some kind of a mark on the world, right now, before it hap…
> I won't even recognize what I lost
Alzheimer's victims know what they lost, until rather late in the disease. It's part of what makes it a hell.
Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you introspect?
#53"Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest and Surest Way to Understand Basic Economics" by Henry Stuart Hazlitt.
The title doesn't do it justice because it sounds so cliche, but once you read it, you'll actually agree that this DOES cover everything you need to know about economics (although heavily biased towards austrian economics than keynesian)
Also an important side effect: You'll realize how economics is not just some boring, esoteric, and impractical stuff that you'll never need to deal with in your life, but actually essential in designing complex systems.
Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you introspect?
#541. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Mostly the bits about how our society is mostly built on collective fictions. 2. Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse I remember being very moved reading this, but I can't quite remember why. Looks like it's time to re-read it.
> I remember being very moved reading this, but I can't quite remember why.
I think it's the unfolding of someone who sought knowledge and enlightenment throughout his life and the feeling of impotence he felt when sharing knowledge that can only be transmitted/obtained through life experiences.
You have to live life in order to be enlighted. He always "knew it" in reality, but he didn't have the life experience to really know it.
Elders knowledge won't do it - you can't live/experience life through others experiences/knowledge.
After some age, I think we tend to relate to this because we recall people trying to pass knowledge to us and it never clicked until we lived such events. After that, everything gets a new dimension.
Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you introspect?
#55* Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance - Robert M. Pirsig
* The miracle of mindfulness - Thich Nhat Hanh
* Letters from a stoic - Seneca
* Amusing ourselves to death (Neil Postman) (combined with 1984 by Orwell and Brave New World by Huxley)
* Zen mind, beginner's mind - Shunryu Suzuki
* Walden - Henry David Thoreau
Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you introspect?
#56Seneca - On the Shortness of Life
Although it can be read in an hour or two, it completely rewrote the way I approach life – particularly by reframing procrastination and idleness.
"You act like mortals in all that you fear, and like immortals in all that you desire"
Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you introspect?
#57“The Myth of Sisyphus” by Albert Camus, if you find yourself worrying about existential nihilism then this is the book for you. I found it extremely useful after an intense psychedelic experience. The School of Life has a good overview of his brand of existentialism here https://youtu.be/jQOfbObFOCw
Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you introspect?
#581. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Mostly the bits about how our society is mostly built on collective fictions. 2. Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse I remember being very moved reading this, but I can't quite remember why. Looks like it's time to re-read it.
Siddhartha is such a great book. I actually read it slower just to enjoy it for a longer time :)
Read it long ago, one of those books that just sticks with you. Easily one of my favourite works of fiction. Hesse has such a bizarre writing style but it is a very deep book.
Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you introspect?
#59The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion, by Jonathan Haidt.
This book had a big impact on me; it definitely made me re-evaluate how I was approaching things like politics and religion.
Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you introspect?
#60Vonnegut when read carefully. Slaughterhouse-Five, Galapagos, and Sirens of Titan are three of the better ones I have read. They all connect tangentially to the same universe, so reading more Vonnegut also has cool pay-offs and tie-ins.