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Some Favorite Non-Technical Books (2018)

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Re: Some Favorite Non-Technical Books (2018)

#41

Post by raincom »

ImaCake wrote: post #3
mpiedrav wrote: post #2

«I (Bjarne Stroustrup) have also been asked where I find the time to read non-technical books. Actually, it is not a question of finding the time. Reading non-technical stuff is essential. Without it, I'd go nuts and lose my sense of proportion. As a practical matter, I read for about an hour almost every evening before going to bed -- trying to go straight from technical work to sleep is usually not a good idea.»

> trying to go straight from technical work to sleep is usually not a good idea I did this with an assignment last night and ended up dreaming about linear algebra. I did not sleep well!

There is a Fields medal winner, who does math in his sleep. John von Neumann loved to work in noisy environments, did not like quiet places.

Re: Some Favorite Non-Technical Books (2018)

#42

Post by reificator »

pkaye wrote: post #4
mpiedrav wrote: post #2

«I (Bjarne Stroustrup) have also been asked where I find the time to read non-technical books. Actually, it is not a question of finding the time. Reading non-technical stuff is essential. Without it, I'd go nuts and lose my sense of proportion. As a practical matter, I read for about an hour almost every evening before going to bed -- trying to go straight from technical work to sleep is usually not a good idea.»

I find technical books are a great way for me go to sleep. Just read a few pages and... boom... i'm ready to go to sleep!

I heard people say this so I tried it a few times. I either finish the book or get interrupted reading by my wake up alarm. Never have I fallen asleep to something technical.

Re: Some Favorite Non-Technical Books (2018)

#43

Post by Joeri »

kmlx wrote: post #21

wow, what a walk down memory lane. this is a very, very good list. read most of these books in high school. Destoievski is still one of my favourite authors, and i still have dreams of Eco's 1300s abbey. i would also mention Kafka, and any of the SciFi greats (Asimov, Clarke, P.K. Dick etc). Re-read a lot of these this past year. and i would also mention Marcus Aurelius "Meditations", a book written 2000 years ago by…

Wrt. the sci-fi greats, I once worked my way through the list of joint winners of nebula and hugo awards, and it was awesome. Those books are all excellent.

Re: Some Favorite Non-Technical Books (2018)

#44

Post by scabarott »

These are just his favorites not everything he's read, and kudos to him for putting this out there. But I'm a little disappointed as the list is kind of heavily Euro-centric. Probably even just a couple decades ago this would be the norm but I think in 2019 a person of his calibre and intelligence could benefit a lot by broadening his reading tastes, and there are increasingly many excellent (non-european) authors to choose from to broaden one's perspectives. Not a criticism, just my observation.

Re: Some Favorite Non-Technical Books (2018)

#45

Post by sjustns »

I have a long list of non-technical (and non-fiction) books, available here: https://public.3.basecamp.com/p/8ogy66cGzqVxape4Th648eLV

If you're interested in reading and talking about these types of books with people who have a similar bookish intuitions, shameless plug: https://strangers-club.com

Re: Some Favorite Non-Technical Books (2018)

#46

Post by d_burfoot »

nihonde wrote: post #16

Hands down, the most useful non-technical book I’ve read is The True Believer by Eric Hoffer. Written in 1951, but utterly timeless, it unlocks a new way to view your fellow man by revealing the impulses that lead someone toward fanatical mass movements. In a funny way, it frees you from participating in the pointless debates about ideologies and allows you to be more empathetic to those who have fallen into the trap…

Thanks for the recommendation. I liked the author's biography:

> Eric Hoffer (1902 -- 1983) was self-educated. He worked in restaurants, as a migrant fieldworker, and as a gold prospector. After Pearl Harbor, he worked as a longshoreman in San Francisco for twenty-five years. The author of more than ten books, including The Passionate State of Mind, The Ordeal of Change, and The Temper of Our Time, Eric Hoffer was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1983.

Re: Some Favorite Non-Technical Books (2018)

#47

Post by stjohnswarts »

newsbinator wrote: post #20
urs2102 wrote: post #11

One of my favorite classes with Bjarne from college was Bjarne telling us the story of a ten year-old who wrote him asking if it was too late to start programming and what he should learn so he can work as a programmer (to get started so he could be one of the best in the world at something in the field). Bjarne says he responded by telling the kid to stop worrying about work or what he wanted to work as, and to spen…

I'd bet that the nervous 10-year-old promptly ignored Bjarne's advice and went on to ask others what to cram.

Jeesh you must be fun at parties.

Re: Some Favorite Non-Technical Books (2018)

#48

Post by gjm11 »

lonesword wrote: post #14

>This "use" of literature and history is reflected in my choice of reading: There is very little "heavy" reading listed here. And then he lists Dostoevsky and Homer. Those doesn't count as heavy reading? What counts as heavy reading? Ulysses/Paradise lost? My "oh hell yeah!" moment was when i saw Lord of the Rings in the list :p

There are different kinds of difficulty-to-read. I had the following experience multiple times with Crime and Punishment: I would pick it up and start reading, and think "wow, this is really amazing stuff", and then at some point I would put it down for a day or two and then somehow not want to pick it back up again. Not because it was hard to follow (it isn't), nor because it's badly written (it isn't), but because the world it puts you inside is a pretty unpleasant one.

(I did eventually read the whole thing, of course, and I'm glad I did.)

Re: Some Favorite Non-Technical Books (2018)

#49

Post by mpiedrav »

raincom wrote: post #41
ImaCake wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> trying to go straight from technical work to sleep is usually not a good idea I did this with an assignment last night and ended up dreaming about linear algebra. I did not sleep well!

There is a Fields medal winner, who does math in his sleep. John von Neumann loved to work in noisy environments, did not like quiet places.

It's rather common to dream about math or computing when you are solving some hard problem or digesting some topics with a time limit (next exam, project deadline, etc.)

As for Fields medalists, they are extremely creative folks who can find new and effective ways to tackle seriously deep problems, even when doing things unrelated to math (swimming, hiking, etc.)

Re: Some Favorite Non-Technical Books (2018)

#50

Post by watwut »

rbavocadotree wrote: post #40
watwut wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And then he lists Dostoevsky and Homer. Those doesn't count as heavy reading? What counts as heavy reading? Ulysses/Paradise lost? Dostoevsky is not difficult to read. If you like depressive psychological drama, it is quite enjoyable. Homer difficulty depends heavily on translation. It can be stiff and boring or basically just fun (but again, you gotta like the relationships non-actiony aspect of it). Yeah, Ulysses…

If Dostoevsky is not difficult to read, then there exist only a handful of authors who are. Maybe it isn't difficult to find enjoyment in his works, but there is a hell of a lot more going on than just depressive psychological drama.

I really dont think it is so difficult to read. I was no regular reader of classic and was definitely not seeking anything difficult when I found it first time and I enjoyed it.

I used to abandon books quickly when they were hard to read or boring or anything like that.

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