I will take the bullet and suggest Ayn Rand's Fountainhead. If you are a teenager it will definitely make you think and likely leave an impact on you. It's not a typical novel, more like philosophical ideas presented in the form of a novel. Ideal characters placed in real life. You will also understand why the world is divided into Ayn Rand lovers and haters. It questions how the world works, how it should work, how…
The biggest problem with Ayn Rand's thinking is that skilled, intelligent, and talented people are always moral people in her universe. This is not always the case.
Other notable authors, titles, and subjects, some that others have already mentioned: Aldous Huxley, Hermann Hesse, Rainer Maria Rilke, Khalil Gibran, sufism, The Philokalia, etc.
House of Leaves is a great novel. Will feel like a completely fresh take on narrative form. Infinite Jest is also great, if you haven't read it. It gets a lot of bad press mostly due to being fetishized by a particular type of insufferable person. The book has its flaws, but is a great piece of writing and (depending how old you are, where you are in life, etc) may offer a different lens. Also, the writing is excelle…
Infinite Jest is the biggest pile of bullshit that has ever been recommended to me. I lose respect for anyone who mentions that book favorably.
Most likely no one is going to like this post. My father was a physicist and he had a large library of books. Growing up all of these books were over my head but I tried reading all of them. The more difficult the book the more determined I became to read and understand the content. I found this to be mind expanding. I began a life long quest to read the most difficult books and texts I could find. It sometimes takes…
Any advice on how to balance learning/knowing theory vs practical stuff? As a kid, I read tons of books. While I don't regret it, I kinda wish I had spent some time outside doing socializing and physical activities. I'm in awe of people who seem perfectly happy with a book by themselves but also get along nicely with other people as needed.
The best way I know to balance is by scheduling your time. Maybe keeping a log. When I read I usually read two or three books at a time with one book being very difficult and one being normal. I will switch books every 10 minutes to build my recall. I am extremely introverted so I don't talk to people unless I have to. I prefer to write.
For science fiction, Dune is a must, and Children of Time is probably the most mind-bending sci-fi I've read since. Both create imaginary worlds that are so detailed and plausible that they make you see our world in a new light.
But take Dune with a grain of salt; I read them, but the books after the first get a bit, I dunno, wishy-washy? Vague? Philosophical? I wanted to like it because the universe it describes is compelling, but the stories themselves lose a lot of luster. Interesting to see what they'll do in the upcoming movie / series, whichever it was though. It's great in terms of worldbuilding, and it's influenced a lot of other stu…
There is Dune and then there are the books that came after Dune. I tried reading the follow-ups and they were merely average. But Dune ranks as one of the best novels ever written.
"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…
Long time ago I read some idea (probably on reddit) from some guy, that was quite similar to this. The idea being is that essentially you can't die. There is no death. If universe is infinitely large and also it keeps restarting itself with big bang and some universe death all over. Then at some point. Right after you die, something exactly as you will be reborn somewhere else. Even if it takes unimaginable amount of time for that to happen. To you, that's irrelevant, you will just be immediately reborn and start again after death. Your copy might not be alive anywhere else at this moment, but it will be at some point. And well if it's exactly like you, then it's you. I found this pretty intriguing, even though I am not into any non-rational stuff. I wonder if this idea has any holes.
"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…
On a similar-ish note, Neuropath by Scott Bakker.
Scott's MO through all of his books is to write about free will, specifically the idea that we don't possess it and that our brain makes decisions by itself and that consciousness is an illusion.
For science fiction, Dune is a must, and Children of Time is probably the most mind-bending sci-fi I've read since. Both create imaginary worlds that are so detailed and plausible that they make you see our world in a new light.
I picked up a copy of Dune at the Harvard Coop as a teenager and I was amazed. I learned to develop an inner dialog of reasoning. It also started me thinking in terms of systems and the importance of efficiency. Loved it.
The Sefish Gene by Richard Dawkins. Lot of what I thought was question of morality and good vs evil turned out to be simply the question of rational strategies in given environment.