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Show HN: Books mentioned on Hacker News in 2025

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Re: Show HN: Books mentioned on Hacker News in 2025

#171

Post by DiskoHexyl »

On the one hand it is indeed mostly a high school reading list, all very mainstream and relatively popular fiction/sci-fi with a sprinkle of tech literature.

Is that really such a bad thing? Most adults barely read at all, or, at the very best, consume a current random best-seller here and there. I'd say that anything from a high school reading list is an upgrade, especially since most of this stuff is lost on the kids anyway.

It's all good literature and a nice entry point for someone new to the hobby. Expecting more from a top-50 of a tech forum is a bit surprising

Re: Show HN: Books mentioned on Hacker News in 2025

#172

Post by 47282847 »

silexia wrote: post #97
an0malous wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think 1984 is more of a sign of the times, and not just mentioned in the context of banned book threads

There are no banned books in America. Not spending taxpayer money forcibly taken from citizens on books they disagree with for public school libraries is far from banning books. If you are okay with a book indoctrinating kids with far left ideology, why not put in copies of far right books to balance it out? No one wants kids indoctrinated in culture war garbage. If you want to own a book, go buy it yourself.

Can you point me to one book banned by libraries that contains “far left ideology”? And one with “far right ideology” not found in libraries?

Re: Show HN: Books mentioned on Hacker News in 2025

#173

Post by A4ET8a8uTh0_v2 »

bananaflag wrote: post #167
yboris wrote: post #87

I once commented on HN how my favorite Sci Fi novel is Accelerando and the author, Charles Stross, replied to it suggesting I try his The Rapture of the Nerds he co-wrote with Cory Doctorow; I loved it when I read it too. I love HN - it's basically the only website I visit these days (aside checking mail, watching YouTube, and gardening my GitHub repositories).

If you want some other portrayals of the Singularity, see The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect and Friendship is Optimal (and also Caelum Est Conterrens )

It was good. Depressing, but good. While not singularity, some motiff and predictions seem to align.

I would still add:

Snow crash Rainbow's end

Re: Show HN: Books mentioned on Hacker News in 2025

#174

Post by 47282847 »

threethirtytwo wrote: post #123
TheAceOfHearts wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was recently reading through Ursula K. Le Guin's The Language of the Night: Essays on Fantasy and Science Fiction, and she has so many great quotes that are directly relevant to this situation. Here's a shorter one: > “The use of imaginative fiction is to deepen your understanding of your world, and your fellow men, and your own feelings, and your destiny.” And a longer one: > “We read books to find out who we are.…

What Le Guin is expressing is a beautiful idea, but it is a false beauty. It feels like truth because it aligns with how narrative engages the human mind, not because it accurately explains what stories are or why they exist. The sense that fiction reveals destiny, inner depth, or essential humanity is an illusion created by evolved cognitive machinery, not evidence of genuine insight. From an evolutionary and cognit…

> Emotions are not learned through narrative. They are innate regulatory systems shaped by natural selection.

Emotions are deeply shaped by culture. Infants need emotional mirroring, co-regulation, and guidance in how to deal with and “develop” emotions. In some cultures, emotions exist not isolated in individuals but only in relationships (never “I am angry”, but “there is anger between us”). In Asian cultures, you typically soak up that you cannot feel only joy from winning but at the same time feel grief because the other lost. Infants that do not receive adequate mirroring develop long term brain damage and other pathologies. The narrative is/becomes a crucial part of how we perceive ourselves and our emotions.

Re: Show HN: Books mentioned on Hacker News in 2025

#175

Post by daemoncoder »

threethirtytwo wrote: post #146
thefaux wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1 Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

That quote is a category error. It’s about moral judgment of people, not epistemic evaluation of claims. I’m not condemning Le Guin, her character, or anyone who enjoys fiction. I’m saying a specific explanatory claim about how stories relate to truth and human cognition is false. If “judge not” applied here, then no scientific criticism is permissible at all. You couldn’t say a theory is wrong, a model is flawed, or…

This is excellent clarity of thought.

Re: Show HN: Books mentioned on Hacker News in 2025

#177

Post by hermitcrab »

yboris wrote: post #87

I once commented on HN how my favorite Sci Fi novel is Accelerando and the author, Charles Stross, replied to it suggesting I try his The Rapture of the Nerds he co-wrote with Cory Doctorow; I loved it when I read it too. I love HN - it's basically the only website I visit these days (aside checking mail, watching YouTube, and gardening my GitHub repositories).

I really appreciate Cory Doctorow's work on digital rights, enshittification and other topics, but I couldn't make it more than half way through 'Rapture of the nerds'. Just too strange, I couldn't connect to it. It is very original though. Some people will probably love it.

Re: Show HN: Books mentioned on Hacker News in 2025

#178

Post by hermitcrab »

bdunks wrote: post #54

It was nice seeing my 2025 reading list represented. I started the year reading the first five books of the Foundation Series (book #1 on the list). A must read for anyone who hasn’t read it. I couldn’t believe how well it held up 70+ years later(!!) I just finished the 3 Body Problem trilogy, and think it’s appropriate book #2 (The Dark Forest) is on the list as it’s probably the best — but all three are great. I’m…

Asimov was a brilliant mind, but I'm not sure the Foundation series holds up very well since chaos theory become established (it is 40+ years since I read the books though, so I could be remembering wrongly).

Re: Show HN: Books mentioned on Hacker News in 2025

#180

Post by hermitcrab »

tonymet wrote: post #18
Insanity wrote: post #5

The fact that Mein Kampf was mentioned so often in 2025 is saying something about the political climate lol.. Nice website though, I like it.

This comment is a helpful way to understand Mein Kampf and whether it means its readers are Nazis. graemep on 4/15/2025 Mein Kampf IS a rant. I recommend people read it so you can understand how people like that think.

Not something I want anyone to see on my bookshelf though!
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