Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Show HN: An anti-book recommendation tool, to help you escape your echo chamber

abooklikefoo.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 264 posts

Re: Show HN: An anti-book recommendation tool, to help you escape your echo chamber

#41

Post by hyperman1 »

isogon wrote: post #28
gcatalfamo wrote: post #26

I think there is a genuine need for escaping echo chambers but every attempt is usually aimed just showing the opposite side/narrative. If I am conservative I won’t be open to be shown the most leftist content, and viceversa, while instead I might be open to be shown more balanced views that might gradually carry me out of my echo chamber instead of reinforcing it. edit: this an OT comment more related to the echo ch…

My own experience is that it works quite well for a certain kind of person: on Reddit I was simultaneously subbed to /r/The_Donald, /r/politics, /r/ChapoTrapHouse, /r/Libertarian, etc (while those were still around). I'd also drop by voat occasionally to get my weekly sample of virulently antisemitic takes. I think looking at extremes is the most realistic path. Purportedly balanced sources are dangerous because thei…

Aren't you just subscribing to an USA bubble now? Is there a way to add e.g. chinese, indian or islamic reddits to the mix?

Re: Show HN: An anti-book recommendation tool, to help you escape your echo chamber

#42

Post by jonplackett »

This is a great idea! Thanks for making it.

Is there any way you could bring in a synopsis without me having to leave the site? It would be nice to keep browsing there rather than have to link out to Amazon just based on the title and cover.

Re: Show HN: An anti-book recommendation tool, to help you escape your echo chamber

#44

Post by jrimbault »

padolsey wrote: post #2

Hi HN. I made a tool that allows you to discover what books you are least likely to have come across or enjoyed, but are nonetheless highly rated. These books will likely challenge you if you tend to read quite narrowly. Briefly, for each book entered we find the rarest but highest rated intersections and provide those to you. The query can be summarised as: which highly rated books are least read (and enjoyed) by pe…

Anecdote : I put in the three first books of the Stormlight Archive series and it showed me many fantasy books, comics & BD, and mangas, I already read (I'd say 60 to 70%). I don't know what it should output for things not inherently political.

Re: Show HN: An anti-book recommendation tool, to help you escape your echo chamber

#45

Post by rossdavidh »

padolsey wrote: post #2

Hi HN. I made a tool that allows you to discover what books you are least likely to have come across or enjoyed, but are nonetheless highly rated. These books will likely challenge you if you tend to read quite narrowly. Briefly, for each book entered we find the rarest but highest rated intersections and provide those to you. The query can be summarised as: which highly rated books are least read (and enjoyed) by pe…

I like the idea a lot, and the interface is very easy to use. However, I entered a Neil Gaiman Sandman book in my first four, and it showed me another Neil Gaiman book, which seems odd? But then again I didn't recognize it, so maybe the statistics really do point that way. But excluding books by the same authors you've entered might make sense.

Re: Show HN: An anti-book recommendation tool, to help you escape your echo chamber

#46

Post by arminiusreturns »

pjc50 wrote: post #40
gcatalfamo wrote: post #26

I think there is a genuine need for escaping echo chambers but every attempt is usually aimed just showing the opposite side/narrative. If I am conservative I won’t be open to be shown the most leftist content, and viceversa, while instead I might be open to be shown more balanced views that might gradually carry me out of my echo chamber instead of reinforcing it. edit: this an OT comment more related to the echo ch…

The problem with delusional belief systems is that they tend to be coherent and self-supporting, just not rooted in reality. Statistical aggregates make this worse. You can argue that on average X is more than Y, or you can cherrypick all the examples where Y is greater than X to make your point.

Lots of people call stuff they dont like "delusional belief systems" while ignoring the truths, even if nuggets, behind those systems...

Re: Show HN: An anti-book recommendation tool, to help you escape your echo chamber

#47

Post by samlents »

Interesting idea.

Assuming this is still under development, I thought my experience might be of use.

I input The Three-Body Problem (Cixin), Sapiens (Harari), Leonardo da Vinci (Isaacson), For Whom the Bell Tolls (Hemingway), Bluebeard (Vonnegut), and On the Shortness of Life (Seneca) and received in return...children's books!

Age-gating the recommendations might be something to look into.

Re: Show HN: An anti-book recommendation tool, to help you escape your echo chamber

#48

Post by ARandomerDude »

hyperman1 wrote: post #41
isogon wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My own experience is that it works quite well for a certain kind of person: on Reddit I was simultaneously subbed to /r/The_Donald, /r/politics, /r/ChapoTrapHouse, /r/Libertarian, etc (while those were still around). I'd also drop by voat occasionally to get my weekly sample of virulently antisemitic takes. I think looking at extremes is the most realistic path. Purportedly balanced sources are dangerous because thei…

Aren't you just subscribing to an USA bubble now? Is there a way to add e.g. chinese, indian or islamic reddits to the mix?

Aren't you just subscribing to the geopolitical bubble now? Is there a way to add quilting, farming, and spelunking?

Tongue in cheek, but I bring this up to point out that while it might be good to expand one's knowledge, it can become a virtue. When that happens, we're all condemned because it'll never be broad enough.

Post reply on HN