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

Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

161–170 of 248 posts

Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?

#161

Post by TwoCent »

Two by Joeseph Henrich:

1. The Secret of Our Success https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/9474901

2. The Weirdest People in the World https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/26726468

The first explores the extent to which humans are dependent on culture. It also underscores that we're not as smart as we might think. There's valuable knowledge that accretes culturally over time, and this book was the first to make me consider the ramifications of that on family, business, and community. The second book starts from the premises of the first and highlights the strangeness of Western Educated Industrialized Rich Democratic (W.E.I.R.D.) cultural norms.

Both books compelled me to consider the power of culture on human behavior and thinking. We're less smart than we think, and there's more knowledge buried within our cultural norms than we realize. I'm not sure it's made me a better problem solver, but it has made me more likely to ask myself "does tradition/norms/etc. suggest a direction for this problem?" Time will tell if that approach leads to better problem solving.

Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?

#162

Post by CelticBard »

TwoCent wrote: post #161

Two by Joeseph Henrich: 1. The Secret of Our Success https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/9474901 2. The Weirdest People in the World https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/26726468 The first explores the extent to which humans are dependent on culture. It also underscores that we're not as smart as we might think. There's valuable knowledge that accretes culturally over time, and this book was the first to make me consider the rami…

Thanks for giving the thriftbooks.com links. I've completely moved over there to buy my books instead of Amazon.

Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?

#163

Post by CelticBard »

JackMorgan wrote: post #8

From a software engineering standpoint: - Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (doing all the exercises is key). This book helped me think about how programs run, how state is stored, how you can build out asynchronous computation, and how you can build your own languages. - Designing Data Intensive Applications. This book profoundly changed how I think about application performance and data. It describe…

Your third recommendation is fanfiction?

Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?

#164

Post by more_corn »

tolleydbg wrote: post #40

This 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…

This is the best idea I’ve heard all week.

Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?

#165

Post by rasse »

sasha_fishter wrote: post #71
domod wrote: post #11

The 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.

fs.blog -> nice one, subscribed. Thnx

They also have three books that are available as audiobooks on Audible. Volume 1 in particular is fantastic.

https://fs.blog/books/

Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?

#166

Post by rrishi »

tizio13 wrote: post #106

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius The private thoughts of a person with terrible power. An emperor who could put to death anyone he chose. Create the law by speaking it. Command any one to his bed if the mood took him. These pages are filled with Aurelius’ private struggles to be a good man, despite the frustrations of the world. His words helped me become a more social thinker.

Pretty ironic that his son was completely his opposite and an abject failure.

Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?

#167

Post by corobo »

CelticBard wrote: post #163
JackMorgan wrote: post #8

From a software engineering standpoint: - Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (doing all the exercises is key). This book helped me think about how programs run, how state is stored, how you can build out asynchronous computation, and how you can build your own languages. - Designing Data Intensive Applications. This book profoundly changed how I think about application performance and data. It describe…

Your third recommendation is fanfiction?

Have you read it? Judging a book by its cover is kinda like judging a book by its cover.

It definitely makes Harry a massive arse if you enjoy the original character, but once I got past that it was actually an interesting read. A lot of the concepts have stuck with me and I've gone on to look into them further.

Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?

#168

Post by codechicago277 »

gyulai wrote: post #132
camjohnson26 wrote: post #90

“Out of the Crisis” by Demming: helped me see the best way to manage projects isn’t always about fixing problems, it starts with reducing uncertainty. “Seeing like a state”, “Knowledge and Power”, and “Antifragile”, top down control of a system always clashes with bottom up understanding, so experts in a field need humility when working with a new system and need to learn from the people who work with it every day. “…

> “Knowledge and Power” Can you give the author? Your other suggestions look interesting. I've read Antifragile and loved it.

George Gilder, definitely a more niche and controversial author with a lot to disagree with, but I think his frameworks finds the right balance between libertarianism and full government control of the markets.

Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?

#169

Post by nashashmi »

tolleydbg wrote: post #40

This 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…

“Can a man be a soldier and father?”

Mel Gibson: “I would think so. I hope being good at one makes me better at the other.” (And vice versa).

- from movie “We were soldiers … and young”

Re: Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver?

#170

Post by rrishi »

throwaway9870 wrote: post #78

Great suggestions here, but one thing I would like to point out to the original poster is that, while I have read a lot of books, people have had a far greater impact on my thinking than any books. So I don't discount books, but it you want to be a better thinking look around for successful people and pay attention to how they work.

Thank you for your tip. I don't often run into successful people and the few that I do run into it's pretty difficult to have deep conversations. However, I have found people are a lot more open to divulging their inner workings on podcasts. So, I think podcasts are pretty adept at discovering successful people and their strategies.
Post reply on HN