Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actually changed your life? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actually changed your life?

#51

Post by 1123581321 » Thu, Sep 13, 2018, 9:05 PM UTC

tw1010 wrote: post #41

I'll give you a much higher life-changing-amplitude if you relax the one-book constraint. One book and I can give you something that might impact your life a few months, but that you'll likely forget afterwards. Allow me to suggest ten books (which I promise will all be focused on one specific area, and you promise you'll study seriously), and I'll give you something that will make a much higher, and long lasting, im…

What are the books?

Re: Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actually changed your life?

#52

Post by magikbum » Thu, Sep 13, 2018, 9:06 PM UTC

Tuesdays with Morrie

Re: Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actually changed your life?

#53

Post by contingencies » Thu, Sep 13, 2018, 9:08 PM UTC

TCP/IP Illustrated Volume 1: The Protocols. It changed my life because I realised I could better comprehend systems others had already pored over and offer new insights. By comparing the contents of this book to RFCs I was able to propose numerous new remote operating system detection strategies which I published. I then had contact from a hacker group on the other side of the world, plus web visits from a swathe of militaries globally. (This was back in the mid-late 1990s when people didn't bother obfuscating their IP.) Gave me the confidence to go do my own thing in a lot of ways, including leaving Australia for its lack of R&D opportunities outside of military/academia, and probably a significant historical factor in my current position as a founder.

Re: Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actually changed your life?

#54

Post by daphneokeefe » Thu, Sep 13, 2018, 9:08 PM UTC

Obligatory "48 Laws of Power". You have to understand the rules, even if you don't want to actively participate. Greene's other books are good, too.

Re: Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actually changed your life?

#55

Post by sh87 » Thu, Sep 13, 2018, 9:10 PM UTC

tw1010 wrote: post #41

I'll give you a much higher life-changing-amplitude if you relax the one-book constraint. One book and I can give you something that might impact your life a few months, but that you'll likely forget afterwards. Allow me to suggest ten books (which I promise will all be focused on one specific area, and you promise you'll study seriously), and I'll give you something that will make a much higher, and long lasting, im…

Gimme the books already!

Re: Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actually changed your life?

#56

Post by aalhour » Thu, Sep 13, 2018, 9:11 PM UTC

satori99 wrote: post #37

aalhour wrote: post #30

The God Delusion and The Selfish Gene. I know they are a bit dated by now, but when I read them they broadened my horizons and encouraged to review my religious standpoint from a scientific perspective.

For me it was Carl Sagan's The Demon Haunted World. I was not especially religious, or especially anything until that book convinced me that skepticism was a useful default setting.

Sweet! I will give that a try!

Re: Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actually changed your life?

#57

Post by camjohnson26 » Thu, Sep 13, 2018, 9:12 PM UTC

Mere Christianity by CS Lewis. As a teenager it gave me an intellectual basis for my faith and helped me see it could be defensible.

Darwin's Doubt by Stephen Meyer. If God exists methodological naturalism can't be completely true. This book helped me see that there's still areas science can't fully explain, like the information explosion of the Cambrian Explosion.

Please don't burn me at the stake.

Re: Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actually changed your life?

#58

Post by aalhour » Thu, Sep 13, 2018, 9:13 PM UTC

tw1010 wrote: post #41

I'll give you a much higher life-changing-amplitude if you relax the one-book constraint. One book and I can give you something that might impact your life a few months, but that you'll likely forget afterwards. Allow me to suggest ten books (which I promise will all be focused on one specific area, and you promise you'll study seriously), and I'll give you something that will make a much higher, and long lasting, im…

The mother of all cliff-hangers! :D What would be your top 25 books then?

Re: Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actually changed your life?

#59

Post by sh87 » Thu, Sep 13, 2018, 9:19 PM UTC

For me it wasn't a book but NPR's planet money podcast that triggered my foray into reading up on real world economics. It does a great job at pointing at important concepts that are relatable and breaking it down into simpler parts I can pick up at anytime and travel deep into understanding it.

Sorry if this is off-topic, but thats what comes to mind when I think of a constant source of highly valuable information (besides HN)

Re: Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actually changed your life?

#60

Post by skookumchuck » Thu, Sep 13, 2018, 9:20 PM UTC

"How To Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie

It's an enduring classic for good reason.