Ask HN: What book changed your life?

The following have all had a significant effect on my worldview. You can find more information at [1].

- The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany

- Thinking, Fast and Slow

- Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

- Crime and Punishment

- The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York

- Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies

- The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity

- Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead

- Franny and Zooey

- Master of the Senate

- Atlas Shrugged

- Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed

- Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides’s Trap?

- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

- The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics

- The Scout Mindset: Why Some People See Things Clearly and Others Don't

- Artificial Intelligence: A Guide for Thinking Humans

- Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage

- Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World

- Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones

- Homo Deus: A History of Tomorrow

- Ethics in the Real World: 86 Brief Essays on Things that Matter

- A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life

- Humankind: A Hopeful History

- The Bird Way: A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think

[1] https://jacobw.xyz/books/

I have just finished reading this book (English translation) and was blown away by how relatable a lot of the characters and the flaws in their relationships are. At some parts it was like looking in a mirror and not in a good way.

First and foremost: The Bible. Not the watered down "everybody goes to heaven" theology that most people subscribe to, but rather an evidence based approach that uses the Bible to interpret itself as it was designed to do.

Secondarily, this book saved my life in the sense that it helped me understand my depression, a clinical depression so deep that my psychologist had never seen such a thing previously:

Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life: The New Acceptance and Commitment Therapy - Stephen C. Hayes https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0054M063A/

Its scientific approach to understanding our own thought patterns gave me control- coping mechanisms- for dealing with my own feelings instead of ignoring ("Burying") them and letting them slowly destroy me from the inside out.

+100 for Carnegie.

The simple lesson of trying to look at things from other people's perspective is absolutely invaluable.

Also, Cryptonomicon was an unexpected eye-opener on how every privacy-oriented tech will be instantly abused by people you'd never want to have it in the first place. Cypherpunk has a flip side and it's pretty damn dark.

history of western philosophy by bertrand russell