Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?

#181

Post by LukeBMM » Tue, May 12, 2020, 1:46 PM UTC

fit2rule wrote: post #15

zedr wrote: post #8

The Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins. It describes what science believes life to be, and it can be very upsetting. Understanding it, however, made me a more confident and happier person than I was before.

I found this book completely degrading, even to the point of nauseating .. it discounts tens of thousands of years of human experience with describing itself, producing a taxonomic monster that is of very little actual use to the common man beyond providing a convenient excuse for ones failings and for the nature of humankinds more banal spirit. Science can be repressive. Dawkins is a classic example of the iron fist…

I agree and couldn't have put it nearly as well.

Re: Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?

#182

Post by syndacks » Tue, May 12, 2020, 1:47 PM UTC

Discipline and Punish by Michel Foucault fundamentally changed the way I look at things like school and work. Essentially, they're systems of discipline and control masquerading as something very different. Skip all the Malcom Gladwell crap and read some real philosophy. It's hard but rewarding.

Re: Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?

#183

Post by strig » Tue, May 12, 2020, 1:50 PM UTC

pas wrote: post #142

bemmu wrote: post #100

"Permutation City" by Greg Egan is mind-bending in a way similar to The Matrix, except taken up a few notches. Explores the consequences of consciousness being just a pattern. Would it continue if the pattern is paused? Seems yes, since we survive being unconscious. So we move in space and time, but still consciousness feels continuous. What if you pause it, destroy it, recreate it somewhere else. Would it not contin…

For higher dimensional mind bending his Diaspora book is a must read! For mind games: The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi. Plus for a related rabbit hole: the idea that a random pattern can just pop into existence and have consciousness is basically the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boltzmann_brain concept.

The first chapter of Diaspora is available on the author's website, I'd highly recommend reading it:

https://www.gregegan.net/DIASPORA/01/Orphanogenesis.html

Re: Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?

#184

Post by abakker » Tue, May 12, 2020, 1:51 PM UTC

Foucault's Pendulum, Umberto Eco. As with anything he wrote, the writing itself is amazingly good, but the thoughts really get to you, too.

Re: Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?

#185

Post by newhackgoofin » Tue, May 12, 2020, 1:52 PM UTC

I had to read Flatland slowly, but I would definitely describe it as mind bending. Reading this book will literally change your perspective

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatland

Re: Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?

#186

Post by marktangotango » Tue, May 12, 2020, 1:52 PM UTC

arethuza wrote: post #163

For Mind games, something from the Culture series - Use of Weapons which does have a nice twist. For sheer scale and sensawunda - A Fire Upon the Deep and Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge.

I concur on the Vinge picks. The Vinge story that really blew my mind was "Marooned in Realtime", which I contend is best read in the context of the other works in "Across Realtime":

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/167844.Across_Realtime

For mind games, I submit "Kiln People" by David Brin. What if you could fork your consciousness into another body and rejoin periodically? "Kiln People" explores this idea in some remarkable ways.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/96478.Kiln_People

Re: Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?

#187

Post by dreamercz » Tue, May 12, 2020, 1:52 PM UTC

_lbaq wrote: post #33

Marcus Aurelius' Meditations Framework for a happy life in any context.

I was looking for someone to mention stoic literature!

For that matter I'd like to add another author - Michel de Montaigne and his Essays. It offers a very humane look inside his thoughts about the world and makes you think about your own life and how you look at it, too.

Re: Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?

#188

Post by criddell » Tue, May 12, 2020, 1:53 PM UTC

lut4rp wrote: post #19

Vanit wrote: post #13

Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker. Maybe not mindbending, but a must read for us engineers prone to burning the midnight oil.

Careful with this one, the content is controversial and considered unscientific: https://guzey.com/books/why-we-sleep/

To be fair to the author you should also post the link to Walker's response to these questions and more:

https://sleepdiplomat.wordpress.com/2019/12/19/why-we-sleep-...

Re: Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?

#189

Post by [deleted] » Tue, May 12, 2020, 1:53 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?

#190

Post by dreamercz » Tue, May 12, 2020, 1:54 PM UTC

Really anything by Robert Fulghum. Granted, this books are not mind mending but when I read them I was relatively young and their authenticity left a lasting impression on me.