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Summer Reading List

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Re: Summer Reading List

#111

Post by ethbro »

greenshackle2 wrote: post #45
Danihan wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Still one of the best books I've read, period. Can't recommend it highly enough.

I'm about one third of the way through, but I was turned off by him dismissing Kant and Bentham's moral theories because they are autistic ("diagnosed" on the basis of circumstantial evidence). I see the value of bringing systematizing vs empathizing in the picture, but you can do that without character-assassinating them. It was really bizarre to read him bring up their autism, then insist he didn't commit Ad Homine…

So much of modern philosophy seems like the task of obfuscating an illogical argument with unrelated logical ones until the reader forgets and assumed the original argument must have been proved logically.

I believe it was Apollo Robbins who said one of the brainjacks he uses is the "A, B, C, 7" pattern, where people with distracted attention tend to leap to assuming the next object is like the former ones.

Re: Summer Reading List

#112

Post by harigov »

iiv wrote: post #37
dsr_ wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read 2-10 books a week, depending on what else is going on in my life. Conditions allowing that: - I nearly always read on my phone. - I can read on my commute. - I read before going to sleep. - I read quickly.

Can I ask how fast your read? (words or characters/minute)

It used to be a huge concern for me as well. I realized that the more I read, the faster I read. So if you are worried about reading speed, don't. Just read, and it will get better. With no extra effort from me, my reading speed increased by at least 50% since I started reading books seriously.

Re: Summer Reading List

#113

Post by arstin »

dvcc wrote: post #58
anotherbrownguy wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wanted to finish 100 books in 2017, already on 75th.

I'm curious, how much do you actually get out of each book? Even at my pace of 1-2 a month I'm barely able to retain anything. I can't imagine reading ~8 a month and being able to remember what the book was actually about.

8/mth really isn't that much. If you go to grad school for history or something you have to learn to crush whole libraries. It's a developed skill like any other, hard but achievable. Personally I closely read one dense, rich book a month or so, then alongside that another dozen or two with varying levels of thoroughness. For example, I spent about two afternoons on Happy City, but it took me several months for just Vol 1 of Schopenhauer's Parerga and Paralipomena.

Personally I've found over the years that this balance between reading a very small number of books closely and a whole lot casually has worked well and has led each set to complement the other.

I'd not worry about "retaining" in the sense of being able to mouth all sorts of facts and figures and arguments and story details several weeks later. Sometimes this stuff is important, but for me anyway I only "retain" in this sense when I take the further step of taking notes after finishing a chapter, etc. Most books aren't worth that IMO given you can just pull them off the shelf when you need to look something up. But books can affect you in other dimensions, especially in slowly enlarging your perspective in ways you hardly even notice.

(But I mean, if you literally couldn't talk -at all- for a few minutes about a book you read last month, that's a different story!)

Re: Summer Reading List

#115

Post by imsd »

kentt wrote: post #97

I'd consider Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection to be fiction as well. Too long, shouldn't read: if you believe, your back pain will go away. I'm surprised to see the anti-scientific pseudoscience promoted.

I would not call it "anti-scientific pseudoscience," but the author does openly admit that the science behind why his techniques work is still fuzzy. It's a field that needs more research and understanding.

Regardless, the book is very effective for many individuals, myself included. I highly recommend it to anyone dealing with back pain.

Re: Summer Reading List

#117

Post by NikolaNovak »

dsplittgerber wrote: post #106
jackschultz wrote: post #81

I know this is a technical site, but for all of these I always get a little sad with how few fictional books are listed on these types of posts. Going over it, seems like there's just one, "The Nix" (may be more where I just missed them). I like seeing fictional books since I can relate to the people writing them. If I enjoyed some of the fictional books that people talk about, then I'll go along with their non-ficti…

I'm interested in your argument to why fiction is not time "wasted"! Would you mind discussing? I have thought about this a lot and personally only read non-fiction, but am always interested in other viewpoints.

I am not the original thread author, but I would postulate that it first depends on what each individual considers time wasted vs time well spent.

Many consider a relaxing, entertaining read to be worthwhile after a hard week of work in its own right.

For those who need a more "tangible" return on reading, though, many fiction books, intentionally or not, introduce ideas, philosophies, thoughts and perspective. Some explore political systems, others philosophies, others social/economic constructs, yet others interpersonal relationships, etc. From that perspective, one can learn from many fiction books, exercise one's mental muscles, gain new perspectives, and even take actionable insight.

I'm not saying Danielle Steel or Sydney Sheldon are necessarily likely candidates for bringing lifestyle change; but I have personally found many fiction (particularly SF in my case) books to have played a large part in influencing my perspective on the world and people within it, impact my likes and priorities, and so on.

I don't agree with ideas in Starship Troopers but found them challenging my own worldview. Arthur Clarke put Sri Lanka / Ceylon on my bucket list, made me interested in astronomy AND computer science. Neuromancer instigated my trip to Japan and visit to Tokyo, where I very much experienced the night-time vista through Case's eyes. A lot of Tom Clancy (I know... I know;) renewed my interest in flying and geopolitics, and I've happily used the word "nekulturny" in my daily usage since. Karl May's doubly-fictional accounts of American West and Arabian Peninsula added them to my own imagination. Tau Zero, Childhood's end, and Children of men made me realize how much I empathized with success and continuation of species more than Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" or Dawkins' "Selfish Gene" ever did. And so on...

My $0.01 CAD :)

Re: Summer Reading List

#118

Post by secfirstmd »

jackschultz wrote: post #81

I know this is a technical site, but for all of these I always get a little sad with how few fictional books are listed on these types of posts. Going over it, seems like there's just one, "The Nix" (may be more where I just missed them). I like seeing fictional books since I can relate to the people writing them. If I enjoyed some of the fictional books that people talk about, then I'll go along with their non-ficti…

Kind of amazed there are so few political books in here...There's a book on backpain but not on the descent into tyranny...

Re: Summer Reading List

#119

Post by pjschlic »

dsplittgerber wrote: post #106
jackschultz wrote: post #81

I know this is a technical site, but for all of these I always get a little sad with how few fictional books are listed on these types of posts. Going over it, seems like there's just one, "The Nix" (may be more where I just missed them). I like seeing fictional books since I can relate to the people writing them. If I enjoyed some of the fictional books that people talk about, then I'll go along with their non-ficti…

I'm interested in your argument to why fiction is not time "wasted"! Would you mind discussing? I have thought about this a lot and personally only read non-fiction, but am always interested in other viewpoints.

Speaking for myself, I tend to alternate between fiction and non-fiction books. Generally, fiction books are story-driven (any sci-fi/fantasy/general fiction) and center around relationships between characters overlaid with some other topics. This means any good fiction is a setting custom built to examine specific aspects of humanity or some aspect of the world we live in or could live in. Any reasonably 'good' fiction is an exploration of highs and lows and challenges and redemptions, and I believe that these lead us to be better able to understand our fellow humans, and allow us to better think about and imagine the situations we might face in our lives or re-examine experiences we've had.

Re: Summer Reading List

#120

Post by wuch »

louprado wrote: post #107
kentt wrote: post #97

I'd consider Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection to be fiction as well. Too long, shouldn't read: if you believe, your back pain will go away. I'm surprised to see the anti-scientific pseudoscience promoted.

There is a drug so powerful that every drug other drug is tested against it: the placebo. If this book saves just one HN reader from opioid addiction then I am glad it made the list.

Actually there is pretty limited support that placebo actually works on anything but subjective measured outcomes.
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