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Ask HN: What book changed your life?

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Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life?

#131

Post by geocrasher »

p0d wrote: post #126
geocrasher wrote: post #95

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 Y…

I agree. I would also add continues to change my life. I read the Bible every day and am constantly amazed how relevant ancient wisdom is today. In recent years teaching from Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament taught me how to understand my work. There is such a lot of nonsense on HN and the net about success. So many are pursuing a pipe dream. Below helped me to work hard, enjoy what I have, and not be concerned abou…

Solomon knew what he was talking about!

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life?

#132

Post by [deleted] »

geocrasher wrote: post #95

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 Y…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life?

#133

Post by ralmidani »

1. The Quran. I’ve struggled with depression and anxiety - reading The Quran is always soothing and sometimes cathartic. One of the common themes is how insignificant this life is compared to eternity; e.g. Putin and Assad destroyed my country, Syria (and they’re now doing the same in Ukraine). I hope I see them brought to justice in this world, but if they’re not, I can live with that.

2. The Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene. Written by someone who might an atheist, but it also demonstrates both theoretically and empirically how humble we and our planet are. He uses genius analogies to simplify complex concepts. Reading the book is very mind-expanding.

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life?

#134

Post by ericra »

tomrod wrote: post #103
thatjoeoverthr wrote: post #67

Jacob’s Room, Virginia Woolf Before this book I generally did not read, unless it was a Star Trek branded airport novel. I had just got an iPad and was rummaging around the Project Gutenberg texts they’d dumped into iBooks. I chose it impulsively. This book set my brain and heart on fire and opened the world of literature for me. It’s very specific, though, and I can’t -recommend- it to anyone. There is little spackl…

I'll have to give Jacob's Room a read -- thanks!

This one is available on Standard Ebooks[1]. It's fairly common knowledge, but I would highly suggest this site as the definitive source for high-quality copies of public domain works. I've contributed to their project before, and their editorial work is top notch.

[1] https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/virginia-woolf/jacobs-room

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life?

#135

Post by nanomonkey »

The Listening Society by Hanzi Freinacht. It taught me that there is indeed a direction for society to go beyond PostModernism, that is constructive and nuanced. Also explained why it is so rare for people to move into such a stage of development.

The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow. Showed all of the archaeological evidence for vast time periods where alternate governance models were put into practice, and how the history of progress that we are given is not the whole story. Useful for seeing that we are in a local minim, and can evolve into something better.

Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe. Goes through the diaries and historical evidence of the early interactions with Australia's Aboriginals. Shows how over time their agricultural practices, towns and living environments were destroyed and replaced with a narrative that they were backwards and not using the land. Good example of how sustainable practices can look like unused natural spaces, and thus dismissed as poor uses of space.

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life?

#136

Post by ISL »

aradox66 wrote: post #74
ISL wrote: post #57

The Tao Te Ching has given me more contemplative moments per page than anything else I've read.

Which translation?

Feng and English rides around with me in a messenger bag, but I derive joy from reading other translations, too. It feels like kind of a living document, with everyone viewing the underlying ideas from their own perspectives.

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life?

#137

Post by geocrasher »

tomrod wrote: post #105
geocrasher wrote: post #95

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 Y…

> evidence based approach that uses the Bible to interpret itself as it was designed to do I don't understand what that means. But I do think Misquoting Jesus is one of the better biblical criticism books I've read, and can recommend it for interested folks. Your recommendation reminded me of that.

It means not taking individual verses out of context and using only the rest of the Bible to provide that context such as who the Bible writer was writing to, in what circumstance, even in what time of year if it was a farming analogy, or what other Bible writers say on the same subject. That's only scratching the surface, but hopefully gives you an idea what I meant.

Re: Ask HN: What book changed your life?

#140

Post by 1647423593 »

reayn wrote: post #56
zorr wrote: post #47

How to win friends and influence people - Carnegie Think and grow rich - Napoleon Hill That last one made something click in my head but I find it hard to describe what it is exactly. The key concepts that I learned from this book are in my thoughts and actions every single day.

Think and Grow Rich has been absolutely phenomenal in spearheading the mindset shift I've had over the past couple years, and I could not recommend it any more to anyone who wishes to have financial success in life. Some may consider the book and its ideologies excessively materialistic, but I personally find that outlook refreshing especially considering the subject matter: making money; furthermore I think that tak…

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