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

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

#351

Post by nilsocket »

C Radhakrishnan - Bhagavad Gita_ Modern Reading and Scientific Study.

Intellectually very challenging.

Even though it is a religious book for many people, it can be read as just a normal story.

It teaches one about how to live life, not by set of defined rules, but by providing a proper explanation and through understanding.

It's a book which is usually dated to 5000 years or 7000 years.

It`s a very well-balanced story, one can ignore parts which are not relevant to present society.

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

#352

Post by zro »

CapmCrackaWaka wrote: post #208

I enjoyed Blindsight by Peter Watts. It explores several different interesting ideas. For instance, what is the point of empathy/friendship/love in a technologically advanced society? These were very useful things for our ancestors to help each other battle the harsh environment, but we have mastered our environment, so why waste brain power on empathy now? The Wikipedia summarizes the books discussion of conciousnes…

Blindsight has been one of my favorite books from my first picking it up. Watts is such a compelling author!

It looks like Blindsight is also still available for free on the author's website [1].

[1] https://www.rifters.com/real/Blindsight.htm

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

#353

Post by davedx »

alibaba_x wrote: post #244
davedx wrote: post #174

The Magus, John Fowles Dune (all 6) Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert M. Pirsig Manufacturing Consent The Demon-Haunted World, Carl Sagan If This Is a Man, Primo Levi Light, M. John Harrison

All 6 Dune books? The first one was a masterpiece but the rest are not as widely praised.

I love them all for different reasons. The implications of the Scattering in the latter books is pretty mind bending to me, few sci-fi books went that far.

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

#354

Post by arethuza »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #262
__s wrote: post #241

The Fountainhead Or anything Vonnegut or Philip K Dick A personal "brain expanding" book for me was The Miracle Planet but timing is everything, as an 8 year old who had only been reading children's books it taught me that you can read through anything with persistence The Bible has a lot of mind games & plot twists. I read it as an atheist seeking better perspective on a couple thousand years ago

I can't take anyone reading Ayn Rand seriously anymore; it's what all the selfish right-wingers read and take as gospel, those that take a massive shit on everyone but themselves - Trump to name but one. And it's ironic because Rand herself was fervently atheist and hated conservatives as they turned to religion and nationalism in the 50's.

I actually first hears of Ayn Rand from the book Why People Believe Weird Things:

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

I must admit that I do have a weird curiosity about reading one of her books.....

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

#355

Post by carapace »

If you really want to self-modify your programming I can recommend hypnosis. The books I recommend are: "TRANCE-formations" by Bandler and Grinder, and "Monsters and Magical Sticks: There's No Such Thing as Hypnosis?" by Heller.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21806109

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21043783

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

#356

Post by jyounker »

Alexis de Tocqueville's, "Democracy in America" (1835,1840).

It was the first history/sociology book I read that I really enjoyed. I came away with a clarity that there is an essential character to American politics and discourse that has been constant throughout its history.

Decades later it is still one of the most clearly written books I've read. It reminds me of reading an elegant proof.

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

#357

Post by izend »

binaryorganic wrote: post #299

Super 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?

I really enjoyed the Masters of Roman series by Colleen McCullough, she brings color and life to the famous characters of Sulla, Gaius Marius and Caesar.

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

#358

Post by enumjorge »

binaryorganic wrote: post #299

Super 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?

Don’t Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor. While a lot of people treat it as a dog training book, her work in behavioral psychology and training has much broader applications. It can really change the way you approach interpersonal relationships.

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

#360

Post by thr0w__4w4y »

binaryorganic wrote: post #299

Super 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?

Looks like Ayn Rand was listed almost an hour ago (relative to your post). There may be others, that was the first that I searched for, figuring it would show up, and yep...
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