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Ask HN: What book changed your life?

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Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life?

#531

Post by cutler »

nnadams wrote: post #331
cutler wrote: post #292

"Mastering Regular Expressions" by Jeffrey Friedl. While reading Dreamweaver 3 Bible I became intrigued by the Find And Replace options which included regular expressions. At the end of the chapter was a reference to Friel's classic and I found a copy in a local London library. That led me to "Programming Perl" by Larry Wall and the beginning of my career as a developer. The O'Reilly Perl collection is unsurpassed to…

I came here to post that same book! When I was a kid I wanted to make an IRC chatbot. I didn't know much, but I read online you could use regular expressions to match text commands. I felt like I needed a book, saved up money, and got my mom to drive me to the next town. Our little library didn't have any computer books. I remember her paging through and asking if I really wanted this "technical manual". Mastering Re…

When you say "kid" do you mean teenage or younger? I was 39 when I started-out with Perl and server-side programming.

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life?

#534

Post by vibrio »

yashg wrote: post #517
vibrio wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve not read Atomic habits, but keep hearing it recommended. If it is appropriate for me to ask, how do you distinguish the motivation derived from the book and that from 3 days in hospital with extremely high blood pressure? I live with a fear of hypertension because of genetics. My diet and exercise (what I can control) is at front of mind and so far so good, but my high level of motivation is driven by knowing wh…

It's a combination of both. The book alone wouldn't have made me motivated to workout. The catalyst was obviously the health scare, but what the book did was to help me get regular and build upon my habit. The book essentially tells you that a small step is all that is required and not to give up in case you miss one or two days. Making something a habit takes time. I started small. 15 mins a day. Gradually it increa…

Thank you. That clarifies. I will read the book. Best wishes on this going forward.

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life?

#535

Post by Minor49er »

kk6mrp wrote: post #525
Minor49er wrote: post #489

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll have to look into that further. I wasn't aware of there being discrepancies between her book and the sources she used. I wonder if it's related to some of the newer translations being constantly updated. For example, the NKJV has been revised since it was originally printed. Here's a short example showing it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zD_r3_aCvsw Another book similar to Riplinger's is "Corruptions in the N…

I guess my conclusion from reading different literal translations is that most of them do not deviate significantly from each other. Personally, I haven't really found any significant differences that would change a person's understanding on who Jesus was and what He taught, contrary to the point "New Age Bible Versions" is trying to make. Comparing single words or phrases between translations is not an effective way…

Overall, I agree with this. Though there are some interesting cases that people bring up around certain translations, like certain translations referring to Joseph as Jesus's father, calling Jesus the "morning star", and ones that lend themselves more to the Trinity being real versus it not existing. Those cases are more interesting as deeper knowledge and whose debates shed a lot of insight on the history of the Bible and its translations. But overall, the teachings of Jesus and His disciples are not often debated between versions since they do not change significantly, as you've noted.

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life?

#536

Post by EdwardWarren »

I'll Cry Tomorrow. By Lillian Roth. Lillian Roth was an American actress who was an alcoholic. Because of some tragic events in my childhood and because of my nature I believed that I would have become an alcoholic as well. The book, along with other influences, convinced me to never take a drink of alcohol. I never did. You can't become an alcoholic if you never take a drink. I have 5 or 6 friends/co-workers/relatives that I know are alcoholics whose lives are ruled by alcohol. They live absolutely miserable lives. My life was definitely changed by that book.

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life?

#537

Post by uwagar »

yashg wrote: post #518
uwagar wrote: post #345

Earlier quoted context omitted.

what was your bp readings if i may ask?

260/160. Yes, that high. I had a retinal bleed which blurred the vision in one eye. Over subsequent days they got my brain, kidneys and all vital organs scanned for damage. Luckily no long lasting damage to anything.

glad you are fine!

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life?

#538

Post by 535188B17C93743 »

funstuff007 wrote: post #75
535188B17C93743 wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Never read Atlas Shrugged, but I had to read The Fountainhead for English in high school and it was really transformative. It helped me suss out flawed philosophy and gave me a sense of skepticism when being told what to think by authority (my English teacher at the time thought Ayn Rand was the second coming of Christ). I remember offering different perspectives when discussing the themes of the novel and basically…

That's an unbelievably long book to assign at the secondary or even undergrad level.

It was summer reading and we were made to email the teacher weekly about the assigned section.

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life?

#539

Post by 535188B17C93743 »

listenallyall wrote: post #208
535188B17C93743 wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Never read Atlas Shrugged, but I had to read The Fountainhead for English in high school and it was really transformative. It helped me suss out flawed philosophy and gave me a sense of skepticism when being told what to think by authority (my English teacher at the time thought Ayn Rand was the second coming of Christ). I remember offering different perspectives when discussing the themes of the novel and basically…

This is a paradoxical comment that makes it nearly impossible to believe you read the book. The entire theme of The Fountainhead is the rejection of conformity and collectivism. If you didn't like "being told what to think" then you felt what Howard Roark felt. If you were "berated and told I was wrong" for "offering different perspectives" then you experienced what Howard Roark experienced. Are you claiming to be a…

Sorry, missed this as HN doesn't have notifications about comment replies.

My comment about rejecting authority was more about my relationship with my teacher, not internal relationships within the book. Perhaps the paradox was my teacher then, no? Personally, I don't believe in Rand's philosophy. I think Roark is an unbelieveable archetype. If my teacher idolizes Rand and says she agrees with the philosophy, it's _her_ paradox for telling me "no, that's wrong" if I, for example, say that I agree that Roark is Rand's ideal man, but that I believe Gail Wynand is the antithesis of Rand's ideal man because he _has the power_ (and money) to reject the status quo but still refuses to do so (whereas Keating, whom most of the class and the teacher selected as the antithesis, is just a social climber and is working for that power).

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