Structured Analytic Techniques for Intelligence Analysis (Randolph H. Pherson, Richards J. Heuer Jr.) I am not an intelligence analyst, but this book is very insightful on thinking about your thinking.
Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?
41–50 of 248 posts
Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?
#42SICP was a game-changer for the way I think about software and problem-solving in general. Reading Aristotle's works also opened my eyes to all the different ways one can think about a problem (it rids of you of the narrow problem-solving methods we use today). Reading about history in general also opened up my perspective to think about problems in new ways -I recommend the Story of Civilization by Will Durant.
Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?
#43The Psychology of Intelligence Analysis - Richard Heuer - Concise introduction of how the mind works, biases, dealing with uncertainty, critical thinking, and dealing with complexity. The Pyramid Principle - Barbara Minto - Logic in writing and thinking. The Almanack of Naval Ravikant - Eric Jorgenson - Inspiration for better thinking. fs.blog - Mental models, better thinking, decision making.
I also recommended another Heuer's book in this thread! Apparently, he's onto something, or intelligence analysis in general requires a lot of introspection about your ways of thinking (I'm not an analyst, but it was intriguing to learn about their mindset).
Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?
#44Surfaces and essences
- Douglas Hofstadter, Emmanuel Sander
A great book about how all communication and thought is mediated through metaphor.
Douglas Hofstadter's books in general tend to be very thought-provoking.
Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?
#45This suggestion is humorous, but absolutely true: Potty Training In 3 Days. Before having children, I thought I was fairly empathetic and introspective, but raising a child helped me realize how superficial those traits in myself were. I'm being completely honest when I say this book made me a better leader and project manager - having a better understanding of the motivations of others, incentivizing those looking t…
Totally agree! We used this book for our 3.5yo son and then even faster with his 2.5yo brother. It somehow gets a layer deeper in terms of understanding, empathizing, and managing behavior.
Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?
#46Here are some classics in cognitive psychology with direct quotes that illustrate some of the main themes:
Richard Rhodes (1986) Making of the Atomic Bomb
"In scientific work, creative thinking demands seeing things not seen previously, or in ways not previously imagined; and this necessitates jumping off from 'normal' positions, and taking risks by departing from reality. The difference between the thinking of the paranoid patient and the scientist comes from the latter's ability and willingness to test out his fantasies or grandiose conceptualizations through the systems of checks and balances science has established – and to give up those schemes that are shown not to be valid on the basis of these scientific checks. It is specifically because science provides such a framework of rules and regulations to control and set bounds to paranoid thinking that a scientist can feel comfortable about taking the paranoid leaps. Without this structuring, the threat of such unrealistic, illogical, and even bizarre thinking to overall thought and personality organization in general would be too great to permit the scientist the freedom of such fantasying." (p. 151)
Daniel Kahneman (2011) Thinking, Fast and Slow
"In the current view of how associative memory works, a great deal happens at once. An idea that has been activated does not merely evoke one other idea. It activates many ideas, which in turn activate others. Furthermore, only a few of the activated ideas will register in consciousness; most of the work of associative thinking is silent, hidden from our conscious selves. The notion that we have limited access to the workings of our minds is difficult to accept because, naturally, it is alien to our experience, but it is true: you know far less about yourself than you feel you do." (p. 52)
Thomas Kuhn (1962) Structure of Scientific Revolutions
"One suspects that something like a paradigm is prerequisite to perception itself. What a man sees depends both upon what he looks at and also upon what his previous visual-conceptual experience has taught him to see. In the absence of such training there can only be... a 'bloomin’ buzzin’ confusion'" (p. 113)
Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?
#47My three favorites from Gerald Weinberg:
1. 'The Secrets of Consulting: A Guide to Giving and Getting Advice Successfully' I was put off for a decade by the click-bait title but this is a profound little book that helped me get perspective on problem solving in my work and myself.
2. 'Becoming a Technical Leader' The text is great; working the exercises for yourself will make you a stronger thinker.
3. 'An Introduction to General Systems Thinking' One of his densest, driest books, but a great summary of the highlights of the field with plenty of thought problems in the exercises and plenty of pointers for digging deeper.
Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?
#48Masters of Doom. It’s the story of two renowned game developers, John Karmack and John Romero, and how they built id Software, the video game company that profoundly changed PC gaming and graphics. I was writing software for enterprise / consulting companies at the time (early phase of my career). This book opened my eyes to the crazy/wonderful/scary world of ‘startups’, the idea that people can bring their passion i…
This was a great book. And the audiobook was superb. And I'm not even a gamer. I recommend it all the time.
Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?
#49This suggestion is humorous, but absolutely true: Potty Training In 3 Days. Before having children, I thought I was fairly empathetic and introspective, but raising a child helped me realize how superficial those traits in myself were. I'm being completely honest when I say this book made me a better leader and project manager - having a better understanding of the motivations of others, incentivizing those looking t…
Totally agree! We used this book for our 3.5yo son and then even faster with his 2.5yo brother. It somehow gets a layer deeper in terms of understanding, empathizing, and managing behavior.
Absolutely. It's amazing how concisely she lays it all out too. I hope people don't think I'm being sarcastic when I say that it is the perfect example of how a guide/tutorial should be written. The book could also be named the Mythical Dad-Week.
Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?
#50This suggestion is humorous, but absolutely true: Potty Training In 3 Days. Before having children, I thought I was fairly empathetic and introspective, but raising a child helped me realize how superficial those traits in myself were. I'm being completely honest when I say this book made me a better leader and project manager - having a better understanding of the motivations of others, incentivizing those looking t…
"The Everyday Parenting Toolkit: The Kazdin Method for Easy, Step-by-Step, Lasting Change for You and Your Child"
https://www.google.com/search?kgmid=/g/11h7dr5mm6&hl=en-US&q...
"Everyday Parenting: The ABCs of Child Rearing" (Kazdin, Yale,) https://www.coursera.org/learn/everyday-parenting :
> The course will also shed light on many parenting misconceptions and ineffective strategies that are routinely used.
Re: Effective praise and Validating parenting