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Ask HN: What are you reading these days?

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Re: Ask HN: What are you reading these days?

#181

Post by hermitcrab »

PaulRobinson wrote: post #127

My non-fiction pile is very peculiar to me (maths, probability, gambling, Rust and Elixir books, a backlog of a load of recent Humble Bundle deals), but I have some solid fiction recommendations: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin is the sort of novel where you start to get sad as the weight of unread pages in your right starts to lighten. A novel about some friends who build some games (set in the…

>short stories unearthed after his death. Very disappointing

Perhaps that is why he never published them?

Re: Ask HN: What are you reading these days?

#182

Post by hermitcrab »

AlecSchueler wrote: post #157
sigilis wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People still smoke cigarettes despite decades of clear evidence that they will lead to a horrible death in many cases. Society has built so many disincentives to doing so, and yet they persist. Animal products will continue to be consumed no matter how obvious it is that their production is morally repugnant and environmentally destructive. I am sorry to say that I am one of those consumers despite knowing better.

Cigarette use is plummeting in the west.

How much is vaping taking up the slack?

Here in the UK it seems that cigarettes have to be hidden from view in a 'drawer of shame' while vapes are in left clear view. I'm not sure why vapes seem to be getting an easier ride than cigarettes. Are vapes any less harmful than cigarettes? Apart from the effects on health they create a lot more waste. Also some vapes seem to be clearly marketed to children.

(Disclaimer: I have never smoked or vaped, so it isn't a subject I know much about. Please enlighten me.)

Re: Ask HN: What are you reading these days?

#183

Post by sigilis »

padjo wrote: post #156
sigilis wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People still smoke cigarettes despite decades of clear evidence that they will lead to a horrible death in many cases. Society has built so many disincentives to doing so, and yet they persist. Animal products will continue to be consumed no matter how obvious it is that their production is morally repugnant and environmentally destructive. I am sorry to say that I am one of those consumers despite knowing better.

As a former smoker and meat eater I know smoking was far far harder to give up than meat since there is a physical addiction component. Meat eating is just habit and something you can easily enough wean yourself away from.

It’s on the list of things I want to change about myself. I’m a work in progress.

Dietary control is not something I have been able to exercise in the past. I’m attempting to obtain pharmaceutical help on that front, so maybe I will be able to execute on being a better person in that dimension in the coming months.

Re: Ask HN: What are you reading these days?

#185

Post by hermitcrab »

padjo wrote: post #162
officehero wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you define 'regularly' on a global scale?

I don’t since I really only know about what happens in the west. Here most people seem to eat meat 2-3 times a day, that seems far too frequent to be sustainable. Especially if you consider it immoral to live a lifestyle that couldn’t realistically be sustained if everyone on earth had access to it.

Even in the west it varies a lot. As a vegetarian who recently visited Florida it seems that American eat quite a lot more meat than people in the UK. Case in point - my family wanted to go to a steak house in Florida (they aren't vegetarians) but the one they wanted to go to didn't a single vegetarian item on the huge menu. Even the salads and mac & cheese had bacon added! We didn't go. My local steak house in the UK always has several vegetarian/vegan options.

Re: Ask HN: What are you reading these days?

#187

Post by neontomo »

nicbou wrote: post #160
neontomo wrote: post #38

I struggle to stay interested in one book until the end because many books that are designed to teach you something have made their point in the first chapter and then spend the rest of the book hammering it in. Currently been reading Make It Stick for a year and I'm probably going to drop it because it's not that interesting. Also have these opened: - The Hobbit - A Philosophy of Software Design - Bhagavad Gita

This is why I prefer fiction, or anecdote-dense non-fiction. I love Bill Bryson just geeking out about things, or Antony Beevor making world war two come to life. I do not love a 150 page recap of a blog post.

I can see that being fun, and I'm going to check out your recommendations, however the primary reason I read is to learn skills! Finding books that are packed with information and zero fluff is a challenge.

Re: Ask HN: What are you reading these days?

#188

Post by nicbou »

neontomo wrote: post #187
nicbou wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why I prefer fiction, or anecdote-dense non-fiction. I love Bill Bryson just geeking out about things, or Antony Beevor making world war two come to life. I do not love a 150 page recap of a blog post.

I can see that being fun, and I'm going to check out your recommendations, however the primary reason I read is to learn skills! Finding books that are packed with information and zero fluff is a challenge.

I read for fun. The whole point for me is to wind down and relax.

Re: Ask HN: What are you reading these days?

#189

Post by tonyedgecombe »

__rito__ wrote: post #110

Fermat's Last Theorem by Simon Singh. I really like it. There are lots of popular science books out there, but very few popular math ones. I am grateful that this exists. Read the author's Code Book before. Liked that one, too. I was also taking Cryptography and Cybersecurity as one of my Master's electives. This book does not cover the journey of solving the Fermat's Last Theorem narrowly, but broadly covers a lot o…

The BBC has a good program on iPlayer about Andrew Wiles work on FLT:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0074rxx/horizon-19951...

Re: Ask HN: What are you reading these days?

#190

Post by neontomo »

fzil wrote: post #51
neontomo wrote: post #38

I struggle to stay interested in one book until the end because many books that are designed to teach you something have made their point in the first chapter and then spend the rest of the book hammering it in. Currently been reading Make It Stick for a year and I'm probably going to drop it because it's not that interesting. Also have these opened: - The Hobbit - A Philosophy of Software Design - Bhagavad Gita

yeah, I couldn't stick with Make it Stick either. Idk, something about the book just made it feel like a chore.

Same. I went on a date recently that asked what I was reading, and when I said Make It Stick she said, "so you're a marketer...", haha. It hurt a little bit but she was right about something, this book is for people looking for an edge in selling ideas and not for the people geeking out on human behaviour.
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