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Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?

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Re: Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?

#701

Post by SZJX »

A relatively unconventional choice but the highest-rated visual novel of all time, Muv-Luv Alternative, is insane. It is without any exaggeration the only piece of actually "life-changing" media that I've consumed. I felt myself to be mentally much more mature and tougher afterwards, and able to face challenges head-on instead of procrastinating or shirking away. It really is something that shakes you from your soul and leaves an everlasting emotional impact, which is very different from the non-fiction books (which are also indispensable of course).

I would summarize core ideas as "To live is to suffer, but you have to carry on no matter what. This is what everybody does." and "an ode to humanity", but it really is so hard to put the experience into words. You have to live it yourself.

Link on VNDB: https://vndb.org/v92 There are also various streamers who streamed the whole story on Twitch after its popularity blew up, e.g. https://www.twitch.tv/videos/390581022

Re: Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?

#704

Post by RocketSyntax »

goblin89 wrote: post #95

In no particular order: Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre (Keith Johnstone) The Master and His Emissary (Iain McGilchrist et al.) Emissary’s guide to worlding (Ian Cheng) Black Swan by NNT already recommended elsewhere in the thread. I want to go off-topic and recommend a non-book, Learning to Fly by Missing the Ground[0] (Venkatesh Rao). And further off the topic, the discussions in The Midnight Gospel were the c…

Master and Emissary is way better than thinking fast and slow

Re: Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?

#705

Post by cableshaft »

gamegoblin wrote: post #191

If you want smaller, quicker payoffs (but in no way cheaper!), consider the anthologies of short stories by Ted Chiang. Most of them are 15-45 minutes to read, with a couple longer (1-2 hours). I've read both "Stories of Your Life and Others" and "Exhalation" in the last month and I turned to my wife and said "that story just blew my mind" for probably 75% of the stories. You can find a few online. Here is a very sho…

I read Stories of Your Life and Others, and felt he had some interesting ideas, but not very interesting characters, and pretty much all of his characters sounded like they had the same voice (Which, as a writer myself, I admit it can be difficult. I struggle with giving my characters distinct voices as well).

Made it hard for me to get emotionally invested in his stories, and I found them a bit of a slog to get through.

Not sure if I'll give his other books a read, but I might.

He has a background in Computer Science, by the way, for those that might be interested.

Re: Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?

#706

Post by ph4 »

Sex, Ecology, Spirituality by Ken Wilber

The Wisdom of Insecurity by Alan Watts

The Passion of the Western Mind by Richard Tarnas

The Nature of Consciousness: Essays on the Unity of Mind and Matter by Rupert Spira

Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology by David Abram

Re: Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?

#707

Post by willhslade »

chrischattin wrote: post #491
enitihas wrote: post #472

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you enumerate the better stuff if possible?

Sure. Stuff like Taleb's "Fooled by Randomness" or Caldini's "Influence: the Psychology of Persuasion" stand out as much better off the top of my head. There's more, but I'd have to go back to my notes.

Please do, those are both excellent choices.

Re: Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?

#708

Post by gamegoblin »

cableshaft wrote: post #705
gamegoblin wrote: post #191

If you want smaller, quicker payoffs (but in no way cheaper!), consider the anthologies of short stories by Ted Chiang. Most of them are 15-45 minutes to read, with a couple longer (1-2 hours). I've read both "Stories of Your Life and Others" and "Exhalation" in the last month and I turned to my wife and said "that story just blew my mind" for probably 75% of the stories. You can find a few online. Here is a very sho…

I read Stories of Your Life and Others, and felt he had some interesting ideas, but not very interesting characters, and pretty much all of his characters sounded like they had the same voice (Which, as a writer myself, I admit it can be difficult. I struggle with giving my characters distinct voices as well). Made it hard for me to get emotionally invested in his stories, and I found them a bit of a slog to get thro…

Give some of his newer stuff in "Exhalation" a try. He's improved with time. I seem to recall 'The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling' having some distinct characters, and also a really neat setting.

Re: Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?

#710

Post by jparise »

"Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions" by Edwin A. Abbott.

> Written pseudonymously by "A Square", the book used the fictional two-dimensional world of Flatland to comment on the hierarchy of Victorian culture, but the novella's more enduring contribution is its examination of dimensions.

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