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Ask HN: Any interesting books you have read lately?

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Re: Ask HN: Any interesting books you have read lately?

#511

Post by Aerbil313 »

prepend wrote: post #219
derangedHorse wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Polygamy is a more natural state for civilized human societies than we think it is I really don't think it is, but I also disagree with using the word "natural" in a way to argue its merit.

I too find it funny when people use the naturalistic fallacy. In my youth, I used to engage and try to retort about how brutal violence is also a more natural state. But now I just commiserate on HN. What’s funny is that I do think that “natural law” is useful for reasoning problems in that equilibrium and natural forced impact on lives (eg, leverage gravity don’t fight it unnecessarily) and they frequently the invoc…

“Natural fallacy” people say that whatever way people were living for thousands of years is the happier way, because your body and mind is literally designed to live that way. The idea is there will be friction and thus disturbation if you stray off the default path. It’s more reasonable than the idea modern way of living is better. I see no justification for modern lifestyle. Still I don’t completely buy “natural” life because I believe men has a tendency to do evil which when mitigated by religion, leads to an even happier lifestyle than the indigenous tribe life (and yes, the primitive tribe people are happier than the average modern Joe.)

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting books you have read lately?

#512

Post by xu3u32 »

prepend wrote: post #250

I just read Outlive by Peter Attia and Bill Gifford [0] and liked it for how it made me think about fitness as part of life into old age and not just a specific thing to do in order to accomplish something (run a race, climb a mountain, etc). So I’ve incorporated some shifts in training to prepare for the “Centenarian Olympics.” Kind of long and seems like a book just as a focal point but give Attia a break because h…

I second this recommendation. I listened to it on my long runs and now I am highlighting through the print copy because it has so many important insights for health and wellbeing through dietary, sleep, emotional and movement interventions.

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting books you have read lately?

#513

Post by _gabe_ »

leandot wrote: post #510
_gabe_ wrote: post #354

I’ve also been getting back into fantasy and sci-fi. I’m reading through the Wheel of Time series right now and it’s the best series I’ve ever read. I’m on book 7 and really glad there’s still 7 books left. If you liked Eragon, then you’ll probably love this series. Contrast that to Dune, which I heard so much praise for and was very very disappointed by. The first Dune book was ok, but it just went downhill from the…

WoT is great, albeit a bit slow in the middle. But the last three books are just amazing, Brandon Sanderson was hired to finish the series and he did it expertly. A great series I can recommend is Red Rising from Pierce Brown (book 6 just came out, one more to go).

This Red Rising sounds like something I would like, and I’ve been wanting to get back into sci-fi. Thanks for the recommendation! I’ll check it out once I finish up WoT :)

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting books you have read lately?

#514

Post by ohbleek »

_yb2s wrote: post #434
cjohnson318 wrote: post #423

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I do take issue with your idea to "put others' interests ahead of their own." I don't believe that putting "others first at the expense of yourself, and then silently expect[ing] other people to somehow take care of your interests for you" is actually "put[ting] others' interests ahead of [your] own". That's still self interest, it just utilizes the Covert Contracts you mentioned. I think good leadership is self sa…

I think we're actually in agreement, but these issues are hard to discuss clearly because the words and ideas surrounding them are pretty muddled together. I would argue that the type of leadership you are talking about is still ultimately self interest- it is still putting your own ideals or goals first, and being willing to endure hardship or difficulty to accomplish them. Wanting your family, relationships, etc. -…

It seems to me that people always miss the factor that ultimately determines the differences between self interest and altruism, which is intent. If an action is performed without thought for oneself, yet there is some result that aligns with self interest, that does not somehow nullify any aspect of altruism. Why? For one, people cannot predict the future. What may be perceived as good in one instant can quickly become horrible in another. Similarly, what is in one’s best interest is also subject to perception and changes over time. And finally, one is not always in control of the outcome. I would agree with you that for an act to be viewed as self interest vs altruism is a matter of opinion, when intent is unknown. However, whether or not altruism exists at all (because "it’s not altruism if they somehow benefit") is not - which I am not accusing you of making that argument, though it may be interpreted that way by some.

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting books you have read lately?

#515

Post by meristohm »

Pamar wrote: post #493
john-radio wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh, I searched and his brand seems to be about talking to the "nice guys" who are all like "Why do women always pick jocks and not the nice guys like me?" Which is not a stereotype that I associate with compulsive people-pleasing, exactly... Compulsive self-pitying and limerence, more like.

I upvoted because you just taught me a new word (Limerence)...

I learned about this word recently, too. Lowering the barrier for the curious-

From Wikipedia:

Psychologist Dorothy Tennov coined the term "limerence" for her 1979 book, Love and Limerence: The Experience of Being in Love, to describe a concept that had grown out of her work in the mid-1960s, when she interviewed over 500 people on the topic of love.[1]

Limerence, which is not exclusively sexual, has been defined in terms of its potentially inspirational effects and relation to attachment theory. It has been described as being "an involuntary potentially inspiring state of adoration and attachment to a limerent object (LO) involving intrusive and obsessive thoughts, feelings and behaviors from euphoria to despair, contingent on perceived emotional reciprocation".

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limerence

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting books you have read lately?

#516

Post by meristohm »

arrowsmith wrote: post #264
iillexial wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a good book. Another one I would recommend from this genre is "The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter--And How to Make the Most of Them Now".

Is it worth reading if I'm no longer in my 20s?

In many ways I'm still in my teens (I'm in my 40s), and finding more ways to grow up into adulthood, and have found books targeted to teens to be helpful in this.

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting books you have read lately?

#517

Post by meristohm »

jdshaffer wrote: post #54
yla92 wrote: post #22

Finished reading The Three-Body Problem (Book 1) and it's such a fascinating read! https://www.amazon.com/Three-Body-Problem-Remembrance-Earths...

I enjoyed most of book 1, then it suddenly went "slapstick" with the alien engineers at the end. That really turned me off to the rest of the series. However, for those who have read books 2 and beyond, does the writing return to serious and deep or does a slapstick element remain?

Book 1 felt different than the other two, yeah. Some things in 1 I found more of a stretch than in the others. Book 3 went kinda Inerstellar? My takeaways from the series: Bacteria and mosses and lichens live interesting lives; NASA's "shout" to Voyager 2 risked exposing us to other life in this dark forest; and the night sky is even more wonderful to behold. I like to imagine I'm stuck with my back against the earth, looking out instead of up.

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting books you have read lately?

#518

Post by meristohm »

skimojoe wrote: post #66
weitzj wrote: post #50

Breath by James Nestor https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breath:_The_New_Science_of_a...

I literally learned to breath properly after reading this book. Took me months to train out of the bad habits I had acquired over the years.

Same here. I now breathe through my nose all night, have trained myself out of a mouthguard and am not bruxating (confirmed by dentist: no more wear from grinding), and I wake up refreshed (even moreso now after quitting caffeine, but that only months compared to years since reading Breath).

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting books you have read lately?

#519

Post by idbnstra »

lewisflude wrote: post #182

Ultralearning by Scott H. Young https://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/ultralearning/ > Combining stories of dramatic ultralearning feats with the detailed science on how to learn anything effectively, ULTRALEARNING will transform how you work, live and learn. It made me realise that for most of my life, the things I was doing to try and learn new skills, techniques or technologies was actually more akin to entertainment t…

Excerpt from the book that summarizes itself pretty well: "There are nine universal principles that underlie the ultralearning projects described so far. Each embodies a particular aspect of successful learning, and I describe how ultralearners maximize the effectiveness of the principle through the choices they make in their projects. They are:

Metalearning: First Draw a Map. Start by learning how to learn the subject or skill you want to tackle. Discover how to do good research and how to draw on your past competencies to learn new skills more easily.

Focus: Sharpen Your Knife. Cultivate the ability to concentrate. Carve out chunks of time when you can focus on learning, and make it easy to just do it.

Directness: Go Straight Ahead. Learn by doing the thing you want to become good at. Don’t trade it off for other tasks, just because those are more convenient or comfortable.

Drill: Attack Your Weakest Point. Be ruthless in improving your weakest points. Break down complex skills into small parts; then master those parts and build them back together again.

Retrieval: Test to Learn. Testing isn’t simply a way of assessing knowledge but a way of creating it. Test yourself before you feel confident, and push yourself to actively recall information rather than passively review it.

Feedback: Don’t Dodge the Punches. Feedback is harsh and uncomfortable. Know how to use it without letting your ego get in the way. Extract the signal from the noise, so you know what to pay attention to and what to ignore.

Retention: Don’t Fill a Leaky Bucket. Understand what you forget and why. Learn to remember things not just for now but forever.

Intuition: Dig Deep Before Building Up. Develop your intuition through play and exploration of concepts and skills. Understand how understanding works, and don’t recourse to cheap tricks of memorization to avoid deeply knowing things.

Experimentation: Explore Outside Your Comfort Zone. All of these principles are only starting points. True mastery comes not just from following the path trodden by others but from exploring possibilities they haven’t yet imagined.”

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting books you have read lately?

#520

Post by hsuduebc2 »

bubblehed wrote: post #448
hsuduebc2 wrote: post #145

Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall. Fascinating story about how borders and geography shape nations. For example why would russians attack Ukraine and why are African nations less developed. Book is from 2017. I actually heard it as audio book. Very interesting.

I just finished this one. It is an excellent book. He really improved my understanding of geopolitics and why maps look like they do. I also recommend!

Same here. I'm really looking forward to reading more pieces from him.
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