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Ask HN: Life Changing Books?

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Re: Ask HN: Life Changing Books?

#211

Post by creamytaco »

unmole wrote: post #198
creamytaco wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I've never read anything that wasn't a bad regurgitation of ideas better presented elsewhere from this guy, and I have to wonder why he has amassed such a following." I wrote this 2 months ago, my opinion hasn't changed. I guess there are worse charlatans out there (ribbonfarm springs to mind) but why should one waste his/her time reading chewed takes by someone who doesn't seem to have a single original thought-ide…

Now I'm really interested in your book recommendations.

Start with:

Varela / Maturana - The Tree of Knowledge

Miller - Living Systems

Prepare to have your mind blown apart.

Re: Ask HN: Life Changing Books?

#212

Post by petra »

thejackgoode wrote: post #193
petra wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why should I care whether an idea is original ? If he offers me a bunch of true and useful ideas, in a single place, and in a useful form, that seems valuable to me.

For the same reason why you shouldn’t listen to Tony Robbins. Second hand ideas are repackaged to induce emotions for reasons and causes potentially unrelated to the original.

Tony Robbins is a bullshiter. That's why I don't listen to him.

I listened to Naval with a critical eye, and read criticisms from HN. His ideas seems useful, but tilted towards selling Entrepreneurship as the only way to become wealthy, and creating the feeling that's his path is a safe bet.

How beyond that does he manipulate his audience ?

Re: Ask HN: Life Changing Books?

#213

Post by bsrhng »

yissp wrote: post #88
bsrhng wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One follow up question you might want to be asking is why you thought that in the first place and what it has to do with current societal views.

Well, we genuinely do have a far better understanding of the natural world than the ancients. Many practical problems they faced have been effectively solved by technology, like food scarcity, communication, transportation etc. To me it seems more surprising that there hasn't been similar progress in our understanding of society and the human condition. We're still struggling with most of the same issues they were.

That is mostly my point. What conclusion can you actually make about any other society, current or historical, on the basis of "our practical problems being mostly solved by technology"?

I think the danger in this focus on technology now is that it is so easy to dismiss anything at all that ancient Greeks or whomever said as not even simply wrong but even trivial and unworthy of being studied.

Of course I used to dismiss most earlier writings as well. What could they possibly teach me, after all everything is so advanced now? This kind of attitude being widespread and I think entailed in most modern science talk (as an unspoken and easy conclusion that mostly never becomes explicit) is part of the reason we struggle with the same issues as you say.

Re: Ask HN: Life Changing Books?

#215

Post by verse »

devnull255 wrote: post #149

Moral Politics, by George Lakoff: this book offered a new perspective on not just the discussion and language of politics, but sent me down the rabbit hole of cognitive linguistics and "embedded mind" in books he authored or co-authored, such as "Metaphors We Live By", "Philosophy in the Flesh", and "Where Mathematics Comes From". Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond: Gave me a deeper insight into the geographic un…

I started reading "Metaphors We Live By" after reading your comment because I thought it had a cool-sounding title. It's so interesting! I'll have to take a look at the others in your list too

Re: Ask HN: Life Changing Books?

#216

Post by verse »

xpe wrote: post #189
verse wrote: post #158

Atomic Habits!

What other books in the same area have you read? How is A.H. different?

I haven't really read any other books about habits. I've read a few different self-improvement ones though

I read it a while ago but I remember James Clear being a really great author in that he really explains in detail why something works and gives a lot of anecdotes.

It's also a really systematic approach to solving the problem of habits. His focus on systems really changed the way I think about managing my attention and my time.

IMO it's probably the best self-help book I've read so far but tbf I haven't read a whole lot of them.

Re: Ask HN: Life Changing Books?

#218

Post by andrei_says_ »

franczesko wrote: post #67
lmolina wrote: post #8

Books that have changed my life: - How to win friends and influence people. Helped me understand the dynamics of relationships in a unon manipulative and empathetic way. - Sapiens. Changed my view on human organizations and religion - the monk who sold his Ferrari - meditations by Marcus Aurelius - the screwtape letters. Letter 15 specifically changed me

"How to win friends and influence people" It's a great book, however it creates one problem, when all of the advice is implemented. It makes you a perfect listener, but doesn't mention the imbalance it can cause.

As a non-American it felt incredibly manipulative and I can see how it has been weaponized by salespeople.

Re: Ask HN: Life Changing Books?

#219

Post by senjindarashiva »

- How to live on 24 hours a day (Arnold Bennett) A short and fairly simplistic view of daily life that really changed how I look on time.

- How to run a big ship (Cptn Rory O'Connor, RN) Really made me think about how much of modern leadership and management theory is a rehash of old theory. But now we replacing the individuals responsibility with hired consultants that should "teach" us how to work.

- Meditations (Marcus Aurelius) Together with my Grandmother really showed me a way to live with focus on what matters.

Apart from this there is a lot of fiction that has added up to create the ideals I try to live by today and to be fair I think you can do worse than basing your ideals on classical fantasy and science fiction.

Re: Ask HN: Life Changing Books?

#220

Post by senjindarashiva »

mrweasel wrote: post #141
rg111 wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't believe that a single book can significantly change your life Yes it can. I don't merely think so or believe so, I know so.

Do you mind sharing which book, and how? I view it as you pick up parts of the books you read. Hopefully they makes you smart, more knowledgable, makes you think, view the world a little differently, but the person who puts the book down is still you. By significant I mean would the people around you see a different person after you read the book.

Don't you bring up an example of how a book can change your life in your question. If a book makes you view the world differently (even by a little) doesn't that change your outlook on life?

As a personal example a book/novel (how to live on 24 hours a day) made me change how I view my day, shifting from a work day focus (the day is finished when work is finished) to looking at the waking time outside of work as the focus for my day.

This is something noticeable both to me and my surrounding since it gave me a lot more time to do things for personal enjoyment or to help others every day.

And no it didn't change the world but it made a profound impact on my life by implementing a tiny change in how I view the world

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