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Ask HN: Books you wish you had read earlier?

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Re: Ask HN: Books you wish you had read earlier?

#111

Post by cgag »

graphememes wrote: post #93
sngz wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've seen this book recommended many times. I read a few chapters and don't feel like it was useful. Some of the stuff is obvious common sense like smile don't criticize others, be a good listener etc. Then it tells you to be genuinely interested in someone. How can you force yourself to be interested in someone? Does the book go into anything actually useful later on?

No, It doesn't. I've read it a few times trying to glean similar understanding and I just cannot for the life of me see anything beyond a basic human social communications and behavior. Perhaps if you knew absolutely nothing about communicating with others it would be beneficial.

I find the little bit I read helpful because it helps you be more deliberate about these things. Though I stopped because I had a strong "yeah i get it" feeling after a few chapters.

Re: Ask HN: Books you wish you had read earlier?

#113

Post by zeroer »

Amogha_IO wrote: post #63

There are some books I keep coming back to when I am "feeling lost and/or hopeless", when my "back is up against the wall and/or feel cornered", when I feel like I have "hit rock bottom" or I just need to "escape reality"... This list contains books I have read/listened to more than a couple times: !For inspiration:! 1. Loosing my virginity (Richard Branson) - Richard Branson's Autobiography. From student magazine to…

Don't bother with the rest of the Ender Quartet. While they're not terrible, they don't hold a candle to Ender's Game. There's just better uses of your time (like any other book on this page).

Re: Ask HN: Books you wish you had read earlier?

#114

Post by barking »

huac wrote: post #83

A non-tech, non-business recommendation: "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" by Milan Kundera. A beautiful story, told with equal parts philosophy, psychology, and humor, and honestly heartbreakingly beautiful.

Around the time that came out a widely criticised portrait of the late writer Brendan Behan was unveiled in some gallery and someone came up with 'the unbearable likeness of Behan'

Re: Ask HN: Books you wish you had read earlier?

#116

Post by myle »

bor0 wrote: post #29

"How to Prove It" by D. Velleman. Introduces logical reasoning, set theory, functions, relations, and proofs. It is the base for understanding any mathematical subject.

"How to solve it" because it encourages you to not just mechanically follow steps, but think critically and solve a problem.

Re: Ask HN: Books you wish you had read earlier?

#117

Post by udkl »

Houshalter wrote: post #84

Rationality: from AI to Zombies really changed my way of thinking in many ways. It's very hard to describe it or sell it in a few sentences. Partly because it covers so many different things. And partly because I read it so long ago and have already absorbed many of the good ideas in it. They no longer seem exciting and new, and just feel obvious. But they certainly weren't when I first read it. I constantly see plac…

I'm audiobook-ing "Harry Potter And The Methods of Rationality" by the same author.

It presents some of the ideas from "Rationality" but from the point of view of Harry who is portrayed as a rationalist. In-fact the first chapter is titled "A Day of Very Low Probability" where Harry tries to think probabilistically about the new magical world he is being introduced to when he is still living with Aunt Petunia.

I recommend the audiobook because the voice actors have done such a good job with it. I can't help smiling at Harry's pre-pubescent ten year old voice.

Find it here : http://hpmor.com

Re: Ask HN: Books you wish you had read earlier?

#119

Post by aisofteng »

i336_ wrote: post #70
sngz wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've seen this book recommended many times. I read a few chapters and don't feel like it was useful. Some of the stuff is obvious common sense like smile don't criticize others, be a good listener etc. Then it tells you to be genuinely interested in someone. How can you force yourself to be interested in someone? Does the book go into anything actually useful later on?

Some people are born communicators and find interaction with others completely intuitive. Others are born with a brain more ready to understand math, or writing screenplays, or software engineering, or business management - and bumble their way through communication, getting a lot wrong, not knowing where the lines are between their successes and failures, and generally having a miserable time. Books like these defin…

You imply that emotional intelligence and reasoning ability are a tradeoff. They aren't.

Re: Ask HN: Books you wish you had read earlier?

#120

Post by mindcrime »

cocktailpeanuts wrote: post #4

The Master Switch : This really puts a lot of things into context, especially if you're in tech industry. It's basically a history of the entire Information Technology, and it's fascinating how same things happen over and over again, pendulums swing back and forth over and over again, and people keep making same mistakes over and over again. Also you can see the larger picture of why some large tech companies make th…

The Master Switch : This really puts a lot of things into context, especially if you're in tech industry. It's basically a history of the entire Information Technology, and it's fascinating how same things happen over and over again, pendulums swing back and forth over and over again, and people keep making same mistakes over and over again

OK, you sold me. Just ordered a copy. Thanks for the recommendation!

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