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Ask HN: Which non-technology book has influenced you the most and why?

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Re: Ask HN: Which non-technology book has influenced you the most and why?

#261

Post by pokler »

neves wrote: post #246
pokler wrote: post #166

Understanding Power by Noam Chomsky. I knew the United States was complicit in some nefarious things, both domestic and abroad, but wow, that book really blew my hair back.

Which Chomsky book do you all recommend to read first? BTW, I'm talking about the politic ones. I've studied him in computer science and physicology, but just saw interviews and read articles about politics.

Understanding Power is a great place to start. Its a collection of past talks given by him and I found it to be a great primer for more focused Chomsky books.

Re: Ask HN: Which non-technology book has influenced you the most and why?

#262

Post by thomasthomas »

drallison wrote: post #99
skdotdan wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which Taleb's book should I read first?

Fooled by Randomness ,first; and The Black Swan (2nd edition) second. These are books about statistics and decision theory. They might not meet some people's expectations about "non-technology" which usually means no equations and no mathematical reasoning. While not written by Taleb, How to Lie with Statistics by Darrell Huff makes a good introduction for Taleb's books.

taleb says himself in antifragile the answer is antifragile

Re: Ask HN: Which non-technology book has influenced you the most and why?

#263

Post by johngalt »

f1gm3nt wrote: post #139

Atlas Shrugged A book I revisit every few years. It's taught me to be honest with myself even if the social norms aren't in alignment with I'm doing. It's also gave me a deeper understanding of my fellow man and why some are fine with handouts from others. It's also where I learned the $ symbol is made from the U and S from United States.

It showcases some interesting dynamics regarding businesses becoming involved with politics and power. It's a good walk through of how "we just want the government to make companies give their fair share" can easily turn into something darker.

I certainly wouldn't promote objectivist an-cap policy writ large, but there are truthful elements in both Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. I specifically like how Ayn Rand draws a link between collectivism and racism, which was truthful in the era she was writing in. A rare perspective.

Re: Ask HN: Which non-technology book has influenced you the most and why?

#264

Post by anotherevan »

1ba9115454 wrote: post #2

How to win friends and influence people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Win_Friends_and_Influen... I have to keep reminded myself to apply the rules, but very sound advice.

I must admit, I've always found the title off-putting as it sounds very much like it is a manual written by Machiavelli.

OTOH, both my kids are on the high-functioning end of the autism spectrum and there are several auties that recommend it as really useful in helping them with inter-personal interaction. So there you go.

Re: Ask HN: Which non-technology book has influenced you the most and why?

#265

Post by meagher »

s_kilk wrote: post #152
snikeris wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I keep this next to my toilet. I can pick it up, choose a random page, and often find something meaningful.

[Shameless plug] If you like randomly leafing through Meditations, I've made a site that would be right up your alley http://directingmind.com/

My new homepage!

Re: Ask HN: Which non-technology book has influenced you the most and why?

#266

Post by lanstin »

kej wrote: post #168
epaga wrote: post #18

The Gospel of John. A palpable sense of mystery is maintained from start to finish, but it arguably does better than any other book in the Bible at giving a deep look into the person of Jesus as he was seen and believed in by the early church. Additionally, there is a subtle sense of humor as the gospel author clearly enjoyed language and word plays and describes multiple misunderstandings that occur because of the a…

Two follow ups that would appeal to the HN crowd: Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks About [1] and 3:16 Bible Texts Illuminated [2], both by Donald Knuth. [1] https://cs.stanford.edu/~uno/things.html [2] https://cs.stanford.edu/~uno/316.html

316 is a beautiful book.

Re: Ask HN: Which non-technology book has influenced you the most and why?

#267

Post by gotrythis »

crawfordcomeaux wrote: post #109

"Nonviolent Communication" (NVC) by Marshall Rosenberg I was emotionally disconnected from people and myself from ~10~33 years old via information addiction (compulsively doing everything up to the "doing" parts of creation). My disconnect kept me from learning how to communicate my empathy to others, as well as kept me from fully considering/respecting their needs. Around a year ago, I broke through denial over sexu…

I second this.

I think NVC is on of the most important books that exists and should be taught in all schools, at all levels. Most of what we do is communication, and this is how to do it in a way that connects with people.

I listen to the 8 hour lecture on youtube a couple of times a year and have read the book easily a dozen times.

Re: Ask HN: Which non-technology book has influenced you the most and why?

#268

Post by thewhitetulip »

canes123456 wrote: post #127
thewhitetulip wrote: post #62

Sapiens by Yuri Harari The book is simple mind blowing. It seems as if the entire history of homo sapiens which we learned in school was wrong. There was no slow progression, homo Sapiens and Neanderthals existed in the same time as did many ither species like homo erectus, but the perished before Sapiens. It seems that our ability to form fictional entities (like money, state, society, country, religion etc) made us…

I am a big fan of it but do not take the book uncritically. Everything in the book is somewhere between simplified and incorrect. It is still very useful challenging of conventional wisdom for all of history. It ties everything together too neatly but neatness has some benefits. It makes your own think more solid and makes you question everything.

True, we should never take anything uncritically but the book is so well written and does make a few points.

We say our ancestors were technologically weak, so how are there edificies like machu pichu, pyramids of Egypt etc

Re: Ask HN: Which non-technology book has influenced you the most and why?

#269

Post by thewhitetulip »

aa5a wrote: post #129
thewhitetulip wrote: post #62

Sapiens by Yuri Harari The book is simple mind blowing. It seems as if the entire history of homo sapiens which we learned in school was wrong. There was no slow progression, homo Sapiens and Neanderthals existed in the same time as did many ither species like homo erectus, but the perished before Sapiens. It seems that our ability to form fictional entities (like money, state, society, country, religion etc) made us…

Completely agree. The book is full of ideas and questions the fundamental assumptions we live with. I just started reading it and am through the first 100 pages. Was reading it last night when I hit upon : US Declaration of Independence document is an imagined reality - a myth. It talks about equality of all men ( was hoping to read word human there but anyway ). And then he goes onto blow away the fact how all men a…

I always thought of it as irony that US declaration of Independence says all men are born equal (Except slaves and women).

Coming to a serious note: yes, the book opened my eyes, all this concept of nationality, money, everything is imaginary. Just a few days ago, I was writing something on HN and it was downvoted for some reason, I thought to myself, "so what if my imaginary internet points reduced by one".

The other day, I read this. Woha, money, countries, everything is imaginary!! The ability to gossip and form bonds on imaginary things saved up from other human species.

Re: Ask HN: Which non-technology book has influenced you the most and why?

#270

Post by johngossman »

VLM wrote: post #57

You can buy Lord of the Rings as a single bound hardcover roughly 1200 pages. The paper is thin, its only about 2 inches thick. I'm thinking of the 50th anniversary edition. In terms of total amount of lifetime "wasted" playing DnD/Pathfinder and derivatives offline, plus infinite hours of computer fantasy RPGs plus perhaps the whole concept of RPGs in general, it probably has the largest impact in terms of hours spe…

Wow. I could have written this. We had a Commodore instead of a TRS-80...

I still have the Tom Swifts in my office.

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