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YC's Winter Reading List

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Re: YC's Winter Reading List

#201

Post by keithpeter »

ericdykstra wrote: post #168

Comments on a couple of the selections: - Grit - I can see why it's caught on, it's pretty well-written and informative, but it's not one of the stronger books in the genre and I don't think it will stand the test of time. I recommend The Willpower Instinct - by Kelly McGonigal and Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise - by Anders Ericsson in its place. - The Rent Is Too Damn High - Matt Yglesias is an inte…

Has anyone evaluated the actual arguments in the book? I've arrived at the view that the high cost of housing in the UK is causing us more problems than the obvious one of reducing incomes available for other forms of consumption or investment, and I would appreciate an insight.

Re: YC's Winter Reading List

#202

Post by neutralid »

hackuser wrote: post #94
Uhhrrr wrote: post #75

This is my favorite passage from Titan: With a talent for seeing things anew, Rockefeller could study an operation, break it down into component parts, and devise ways to improve it. In many ways, he anticipated the efficiency studies of engineer Frederick Winslow Taylor. Regarding each plant as infinitely perfectible, he created an atmosphere of ceaseless improvement. Paradoxically, the mammoth scale of operations e…

Interesting story; thanks. I have a few reactions to it: First, it seems like a marketing photo-op for the CEO. In your opinion, is the author trying to make Rockefeller relatable? You can see how it works with HN readers. These days his success is attributed to business acumen and notorious practices, not engineering, but I haven't read much about him. What impression does the book give? Also, I would argue that the…

Optimizations like this one with Rockefeller sells well, i.e., relatable, to many people because they tend to optimize locally themselves. As you alluded, local optimizations could lead to problems at the global level, e.g., lack of system robustness. Unintended consequences.

Unfortunately, manufacturing has taken this road in developing fragile products. Even the food industry "optimizes" production to maximize taste preferences at the expense of nutrition: http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/72/6/1424.full

Re: YC's Winter Reading List

#203

Post by pchristensen »

ericdykstra wrote: post #168

Comments on a couple of the selections: - Grit - I can see why it's caught on, it's pretty well-written and informative, but it's not one of the stronger books in the genre and I don't think it will stand the test of time. I recommend The Willpower Instinct - by Kelly McGonigal and Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise - by Anders Ericsson in its place. - The Rent Is Too Damn High - Matt Yglesias is an inte…

I cannot speak to the rest of Matt Yglesias' work, but I read TRiTDH. I found the book to ring true and be consistent with what I learned in my Masters of Urban Planning program and a decade's worth of reading books and news about urban development and economies.

Re: YC's Winter Reading List

#204

Post by thousandautumns »

adrienne wrote: post #184
bmelton wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it safe to assume then that you have no specific complaint with any of his books other than that they were written by D'Souza?

Oh, no, that's certainly not safe to assume. I have plenty of actual issues with D'Souza's writings. But i don't choose to engage here at HN in ways that would actually take up my time and energy, because why would i bother?

You already are taking time and energy to argue, so that clearly isn't the problem.

Re: YC's Winter Reading List

#205

Post by pchristensen »

keithpeter wrote: post #201
ericdykstra wrote: post #168

Comments on a couple of the selections: - Grit - I can see why it's caught on, it's pretty well-written and informative, but it's not one of the stronger books in the genre and I don't think it will stand the test of time. I recommend The Willpower Instinct - by Kelly McGonigal and Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise - by Anders Ericsson in its place. - The Rent Is Too Damn High - Matt Yglesias is an inte…

Has anyone evaluated the actual arguments in the book? I've arrived at the view that the high cost of housing in the UK is causing us more problems than the obvious one of reducing incomes available for other forms of consumption or investment, and I would appreciate an insight.

The basic premise is that not only do restrictions on housing development make housing more expensive, but it creates an overall drag on the economy as well, because people that could be working in high productivity industries choose to work in less productive jobs to avoid a high cost of living. (Productivity in the economic sense of GDP per employee, not anything personal.)

For example, a great programmer turns down a job at Facebook because they want to have a family or afford a house. Instead, she takes a job at an insurance company in Columbus, OH. Or someone gets an aerospace degree but doesn't want to live in LA, so they don't work at SpaceX. It's hard to give examples that don't sound like they're demeaning the life choices people make, and the book is much better than my off the cuff ones. Plus he gives data as well as better explanations.

Re: YC's Winter Reading List

#206

Post by r_smart »

stinkytaco wrote: post #83
ythn wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Name of the Wind is good. Almost too good. The downside of course is that some people fear Rothfuss will never finish the story...

The farther away I get from Name of the Wind , the worse taste it leaves in my mouth. Perhaps it's because it's unfinished and Kvothe's rosy prose and tendency to superlative is not yet explained. Taken on their own, they just seem overwritten to me.

The book weaves a spell around you as your read that makes you love it more than any other book you've read recently. As time passes, and as you read the sequel, the enchantment fades, your senses return and you realize you've been beguiled. Then you hear the first insightful criticism of the work, and it comes tumbling down. That was my experience anyway.

I'll also admit to a bit of resentment towards him and GRRM, the combination of which has given me some aversion to reading series that aren't finished yet.

Re: YC's Winter Reading List

#207

Post by yarper »

tgb wrote: post #197
yarper wrote: post #72

For those interested, C. S. Forester's Hornblower book(s) became a pretty good TV series[0] starring Battlestar Galactica's own Jamie Bamber! [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornblower_(TV_series)

The author has some really clever ideas for set-pieces in that book. I've only read the first (chronologically) one, but it caught my attention. At one point, he is captaining a captured merchant ship back to England and is checking it for damage from the skirmish. There's no water in the hold, so the ship must be undamaged, though it's a little strange because every ship has some water in it. Later we find it's actu…

This also features in the show!

Re: YC's Winter Reading List

#208

Post by r_smart »

ArlenBales wrote: post #49

One genre that is always missing from HNer's and YC's recommendations is Fantasy. It feels like most people here read books to acquire knowledge and philosophy to apply to real life. Most fantasy books are read for entertainment and imagination. There's no hidden message to parse and put toward your next start-up project. That doesn't mean Fantasy books are a waste of time though if they're engrossing and entertainin…

Just read Locke Lamora and it was quite good.

I'd add in the Malazan series by Steven Eriksson. Gardens of the Moon is the first one. Great books, but definitely a long undertaking.

Re: YC's Winter Reading List

#209

Post by adrienne »

thousandautumns wrote: post #204
adrienne wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, no, that's certainly not safe to assume. I have plenty of actual issues with D'Souza's writings. But i don't choose to engage here at HN in ways that would actually take up my time and energy, because why would i bother?

You already are taking time and energy to argue, so that clearly isn't the problem.

Oh, this took barely any time or energy at all! Picking through D'Souza for citations to back up my arguments, that'd be work. And really unpleasant, at that. Y'all aren't worth that.

Re: YC's Winter Reading List

#210

Post by ythn »

r_smart wrote: post #206
stinkytaco wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The farther away I get from Name of the Wind , the worse taste it leaves in my mouth. Perhaps it's because it's unfinished and Kvothe's rosy prose and tendency to superlative is not yet explained. Taken on their own, they just seem overwritten to me.

The book weaves a spell around you as your read that makes you love it more than any other book you've read recently. As time passes, and as you read the sequel, the enchantment fades, your senses return and you realize you've been beguiled. Then you hear the first insightful criticism of the work, and it comes tumbling down. That was my experience anyway. I'll also admit to a bit of resentment towards him and GRRM,…

I've been burned twice now. First with Name of the Wind, and again with Blood Song. Both books were incredible masterpieces, and both books were a part of an unfinished series. And at least with Blood Song, the rest of the series was pretty disappointing by comparison. I vowed to never again read an unfinished series (although, I was not burned by Harry Potter, and so far I have not been burned by Stormlight Archive)
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