Shantaram
Power of Now
Go Giver
Art of Profitability
Challenger Sale
Sapiens
Player of Games
Rogue Warrior
Ask HN: What is the most mind expanding book(s) you have read till date?
41–50 of 88 posts
Re: Ask HN: What is the most mind expanding book(s) you have read till date?
#42For this year, mine was Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. TL;DR - the book explains how humans are predictably irrational and how seeming cognitive ease in decisioning is simply laziness in action since the brain will substitute a tough decision for a similar but easy one! It has made me reflect upon why I think the way I do, helped me to remove most bias from my actions, and also has a great suggestion that…
I am a massive, massive fan of Thinking Fast and Slow. However, I am careful about application, because a lot of those studies seem not reproducible.
Re: Ask HN: What is the most mind expanding book(s) you have read till date?
#43The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
The revolutionary thesis here is…
Genes aren’t a way for people to make more people. Rather, people are a way for genes to make more genes. (Selfishly).
Really an astounding re-framing of biology, and one of the best books of science literature I’ve read in my life.
Re: Ask HN: What is the most mind expanding book(s) you have read till date?
#44Ashtavakra Gita(Ancient hindu philosophy poem) : It really opened a new dimension of thinking for me. It's main message of identifying yourself as the witness consciousness is quite trippy and the sanskrit used is quite powerful. It plays around with the concepts of soul , karma and concept of non-duality in quite radical ways. I found it quite an empowering way of going about life, one can only imagine how it must h…
Any English translation worth reading?
Re: Ask HN: What is the most mind expanding book(s) you have read till date?
#45Collected Works of C.G. Jung, Volume 09 Part 2 Aion_ Researches into the Phenomenology of the Self
I should mention that for many, his late work is completely insane, and he has indeed suffered psychosis at his latest years.
I should also mention, anecdotally speaking, you can experience dissociation and suffer peculiar dreams just by reading through this.
Re: Ask HN: What is the most mind expanding book(s) you have read till date?
#46“The Mind Illuminated” by Culadasa (John Yates). Completely changed my life.
This was the single book that helped me establish a regular meditation practice working up to 35-45 mins/day. Very precise and clear instructions. Don’t have to read all of it. There is a shorter version with compact instructions as well
Re: Ask HN: What is the most mind expanding book(s) you have read till date?
#47The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson. The Requiem for Homo Sapiens tetralogy by David Zindell.
Happy to see you mention the latter. I read Neverness as a teenager, and have re-read the book several times over the years. It influenced the way I see the world, and many of the ideas and phrases have become part of my own life narrative. I definitely count it as one of the most mind-expanding books I've read.
Re: Ask HN: What is the most mind expanding book(s) you have read till date?
#48“The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion” by Jonathan Haidt.
Re: Ask HN: What is the most mind expanding book(s) you have read till date?
#49The Blessing of Humility by Jerry Bridges.
I've been a very prideful person nearly my entire life. This book really opened my eyes and also led me to Christian faith. I highly recommend it, even to children like my older son that also struggle with humility.
Also, of course, I'd recommend reading the New Testament, as it is the source for much of the material in Humility.
Re: Ask HN: What is the most mind expanding book(s) you have read till date?
#50Ashtavakra Gita(Ancient hindu philosophy poem) : It really opened a new dimension of thinking for me. It's main message of identifying yourself as the witness consciousness is quite trippy and the sanskrit used is quite powerful. It plays around with the concepts of soul , karma and concept of non-duality in quite radical ways. I found it quite an empowering way of going about life, one can only imagine how it must h…
Any English translation worth reading?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashtavakra_Gita#Translations
Thomas byrom's "The Heart of Awareness" is a popular translation for a quick read.
If you want something denser with commentaries and explanations, Swami Nityaswarupananda's translation is great. Another good translation keeping western audiences in mind is Duet of One by Ramesh Balsekar.