Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?

#891

Post by johnisgood » Wed, Feb 06, 2019, 12:25 PM UTC

FabHK wrote: post #346

LyndsySimon wrote: post #47

Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius. Bottom line: judge your success in life by how well you make your decisions, not by your outcome. You have full control of your decisions, and often no control at all over their results.

I found William Irving's A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy a very legible contemporary (if somewhat idiosyncratic) introduction to Stoic thought, and maybe more accessible/applicable than the classic sources.

It was more accessible to me. There is a lot of misunderstanding of who a stoic is, and what stoicism is. I think this book clears it up well.

Re: Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?

#892

Post by ahartmetz » Wed, Feb 06, 2019, 12:27 PM UTC

thundergolfer wrote: post #857

ahartmetz wrote: post #260

"Manufacturing Consent" by Noam Chomsky really changed how I see the media and everything related to the media. Like many "radicals" (it's the same for libertarians), he has great observations about the way things are, but umconvincing ideas for solutions. Oh well.

You are at least somewhat misrepresenting Chomsky, as he is notable for constantly saying that he won't offer grand plans and possible solutions. He's one of the few public intellectuals with the humility to step away from saying "do this", and constantly speak to the power of "countless small deeds of unknown people" in creating a better society.

I guess you're right, but at least when asked about a "solution", he will speak in favor of anarcho-syndicalism. Which has an okayish track record - it usually didn't last very long but it also didn't seem to kill or subjugate anyone in its name.

Re: Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?

#893

Post by kumarvvr » Wed, Feb 06, 2019, 12:30 PM UTC

_jgdh wrote: post #592

* Factfulness and Thinking Fast And Slow. The latter helped me internalise that my thinking, like most humans, is biased. Even being aware of those biases doesn’t always help. We need to go above and beyond to overcome our biases. Factfulness goes into detail about what those biases are and how they lead to a distorted world view. Rather than taking the easy way out by blaming journalists/politicians/rich people, he…

I would also recommend The Discovery of India by Jawaharlal Nehru. It's an awesome book.

Re: Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?

#894

Post by credit_guy » Wed, Feb 06, 2019, 12:43 PM UTC

"Dictator's handbook" by Alastair Smith and Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and "Coup d'Etat" by Edward Luttwak. I read them both around the same time, in this order. It changed the way I look at politics in the world. In particular it completely changed the way I perceive a so called "Revolution" that happened in my country when I was a teenager (in 1989, the fell of communism). I had some hunches it was actually a coup, but was never sure. After reading "Coup d'Etat", I know it was indeed a coup (among others, it was listed as such in an appendix).

Re: Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?

#895

Post by GrumpyNl » Wed, Feb 06, 2019, 12:57 PM UTC

bashwizard wrote: post #801

putzdown wrote: post #615

Maybe trite, but the Bible. For a mind-blowing experience, read Matthew chapters 5–7, and have in mind that the topic is: “what it means for a person to be righteous, or good.” The analysis of the role of moral rules, the place of worry and anxiety in driving us to short-sighted compromise, the tension between “secret” good-doing versus good-doing for public recognition, are all potent, helpful, and life-changing.

The bible is a great book for anyone in doubt about their beliefs. It made me turn from an doubtful agnostic theist into an agnostic atheist 1/4 through it. Amazing read. Will definitely not read it again!

After reading a part i had to scratch my ahead and ask myself, am i the only idiot in the room who cant take this in?

Re: Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?

#896

Post by Dowwie » Wed, Feb 06, 2019, 12:59 PM UTC

"The Gun" by C.J. Chivers (https://www.amazon.com/Gun-C-J-Chivers/dp/0743271734)

I read it not so much as a historical text but as a story about dramatic shifts in power attributed to technological advancement and strategy.

Re: Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?

#897

Post by jonstewart » Wed, Feb 06, 2019, 1:08 PM UTC

Louis Menand’s _The Metaphysical Club_, from 2001. It is a combined history of William James, Charles Sanders Peirce, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., and their later acolyte, John Dewey, as well as of their related ideas, which go by the shorthands Pragmatism and Pluralism. Although a formal history, Menand is a fine writer and there’s much practical philosophy in here, much of which serves as the wellspring for other contemporary books cited in comments here. It was a great book for understanding America, strains of American thought, and how not to be wrong.

Re: Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?

#898

Post by packeted » Wed, Feb 06, 2019, 1:11 PM UTC

I recently listened to The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand and feel that it has changed the way I think. As an entrepreneur who has been in the trenches, I felt a lot of empathy for Roark's uncompromising ideals, his pursuit of excellence, his wanting to leave the world a better place with his work even if he wasn't able to claim credit and his continual battles with the status quo.