Cosmos by Carl Sagan
Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?
301–310 of 747 posts
Re: Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?
#302The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy. Don't know how, but his words just made my brain buzz.
Re: Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?
#303The archetypes and collective unconsious - carl jung The origins and history of consciousness - mircea eliade Cosmic symbolism in genesis - mattheiu pageau If you want to get deep into opinions on making art, symbolism is a great rabbit hole.
Lobsters, man
It's not that simple, roughly speaking
Re: Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?
#304The Disappearance of the Universe, Gary Renard
Re: Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?
#305The Teachings of Don Juan - Carlos Castaneda
Re: Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?
#306Nassim Taleb's books (Black swan, Antifragile, Fooled by Randomnesss) Thinking Fast and Slow The Organized Mind The Vital Question by Nick Lane. The Beginning of Infinity by David Deutsch
I thought Black Swan was fairly meaningless. It started to raise some interesting ideas about the effect of "black swan" events but then failed to give any insight into dealing with or preparing for those effects beyond vague generalities. I did learn how Taleb likes lifting weights and refuses to run for a bus though.
From what I've heard his other books are similar.
Re: Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?
#307"Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert Pirsig takes you deep into the philosophy on what is 'quality'. Once you see it you can't unsee it. A powerful excerpt from the book: 'So the thing to do when working on a motorcycle, as in any other task, is to cultivate the peace of mind which does not separate one’s self from one’s surroundings. When that is done successfully then everything else follows natura…
Once I moved to a new city and business wouldn't start until a few days later. Some time to spare, I walked into the first bookstore I saw on the street. There in the corner this book caught my attention, well, because I like motorcycles and thought the cover looks appealing.
Still the best random buy I ever did.
Re: Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?
#308"Only Forward" by Michael Marshall Smith. Unexpected.
Re: Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?
#309Mere Christianity, by C. S. Lewis. Any of his nonfiction works have a style of writing that I seldom find. He has a dedication to reason and a step-by-step approach.
The Elements of Style, by William Strunk and E. B. White. I liked writing since I learned how to. I didn't find this book until I was 17, and it unlocked me to write in a way that better helped others.
The Language Instinct, by Steven Pinker. I guess I like writing and language. Like C. S. Lewis, Steven Pinker has a way of writing about hard things that makes them easy to understand, even enjoyable. The subject matter is also news to most people, I think, who don't appreciate just how much that language is built in to the human mind from conception.
Re: Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?
#310Super serious question. Of the 278 comments that have been posted to this thread in the last 8 hours, has anyone suggested a single female author? I looked for a while and saw exactly zero. Isn’t that kind of notable?
Cracking the Coding Interview off the top of my head.