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Ask HN: What's one book that changed your life?

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171–180 of 185 posts

Re: Ask HN: What's one book that changed your life?

#171

Sapiens ( https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23692271-sapiens ) Gave words to describe my feelings for various ideas in my head. Another thing that happened (probably unrelated), after this I reestablished my reading habit that got lost for nearly 10 years.

This book is a great read. It is about how homo sapiens became the most powerful species on earth. It changed the way I used to think about various things such as religion, capitalism, nationalism, race, gender, equality, independence etc.,

Re: Ask HN: What's one book that changed your life?

#172

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind , by Shunryu Suzuki I was 19 and living in a van, camping under bridge overpasses in Colorado so I could just ski all day every day. My naive uneducated mind was formulating some sort of psuedo-hippy philosophy around the state of ecstasy reached in the perfect ride down a mountain through powder. Little did I know the "no-thought" mantra I had been inculcating was just a pale impression of…

Hey man, where did you do most of your skiing? Also I would love to chat with you about how you went from ski bum to professional programmer (I'm assuming) but you don't have an email in your bio. Cheers

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: What's one book that changed your life?

#173

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind , by Shunryu Suzuki I was 19 and living in a van, camping under bridge overpasses in Colorado so I could just ski all day every day. My naive uneducated mind was formulating some sort of psuedo-hippy philosophy around the state of ecstasy reached in the perfect ride down a mountain through powder. Little did I know the "no-thought" mantra I had been inculcating was just a pale impression of…

Hey man, where did you do most of your skiing? Also I would love to chat with you about how you went from ski bum to professional programmer (I'm assuming) but you don't have an email in your bio. Cheers

Mostly Abay/Keystone

We liked to hate on Vail on that side of the pass, but it really is the best. The only problem was affording it ;)

Re: Ask HN: What's one book that changed your life?

#174

Sirens of Titan - Kurt Vonnegut

How did it change your life? I have to say, me too! I didn't know how to pick just 1 book, but this is a great choice. The first novel I ever read that really spoke to me 100%, I read it over and over for many months on the school bus. So funny, so touching. I never go very long without talking about something from it. Hope the movie's 1/2 good.

Re: Ask HN: What's one book that changed your life?

#175
post #72
post #29

The art of worldly wisdom, by Baltasar Gracian. Timeless classic, tiny book of 300 maxims. Each one very profound, highly re-readable as you go through life. I've been reading it over and over little bits at a time, for well over a decade by now. Life changer for sure.

Definitely in my top ten list, too. Like Machiavelli, but its D&D alignment would be Neutral Good.

Nothing whatever like Machiavelli. I don't understand that last part you wrote, sorry.

Re: Ask HN: What's one book that changed your life?

#176
"Why employees are always a bad idea" - put into words something I always felt possible but was too afraid to demand. Gave me finally the motivation to start my own company. I was a wannabe for a long time, always searching for the right "idea" to start something when I realised that all I really wanted is a work environment where I have the freedom to choose how I want to work while still be part of something bigger.

Re: Ask HN: What's one book that changed your life?

#177

101 BASIC Computer Games by David H. Ahl. This was a book published in the 70s by DEC. I vividly remember at either the very beginning or the very end of the book there was a section on how to send submissions for consideration in future editions, complete with instructions on how to properly pack oiled teletype tape for shipping. :) I found a copy of one of the editions of this book in my parent's book stash in the…

I started in a similar way with my C64. At that time I didn't have access to cracked games or anything like that so I started typing up BASIC programs (not sure it was that book in particular, the cover does look familiar). That led to teaching myself programming. It was a wonderful time having found a machine that let you express your thoughts in such a new way, very exciting. Not sure young kids nowadays can have the same connection, things have become way more complex.

Re: Ask HN: What's one book that changed your life?

#180
"A Pattern Language" by Christopher Alexander. Helped me to understand the language of architecture. What works and why, and what doesn't work and why. To this day I can still pick up this book, turn to a random page and get lost for hours in it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Pattern_Language
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