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

What one book could give me a new, useful superpower?

ask.metafilter.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 316 posts

Re: What one book could give me a new, useful superpower?

#71

Post by isalmon »

davej wrote: post #6

The 4-Hour Chef is probably not a surprising choice since it's a recent release and Amazon has been pushing it heavily (Amazon are also the publisher). I'm just over 60% through the book so I don't want to give it a ringing endorsement just yet but it fits the category of "developing a new superpower" quite nicely and it's definitely worth a particular mention on HN for two reasons. 1. Ferriss, the author, is very mu…

I agree with that reading Ferriss could change your life and the way you think about learning, earning money and taking care of your body. I don't think, however, that 4-Hour Chef is really a life changing book. 4HWW definitely is, at least it changed my life.

Re: What one book could give me a new, useful superpower?

#72

Post by tikhonj »

I would nominate some book on abstract mathematics. The superpower is knowing that advanced math is not completely impossible to follow. After a while, the superpower becomes actually knowing some advanced math. I won't say it's easy, but nothing fun really is.

In short: math is not scary! It also really changes how you think and view the world.

Lately I've been having some fun with universal algebra, but I think any advanced mathematics would be great. I've heard categories are ripe this time of year :).

Re: What one book could give me a new, useful superpower?

#73

Post by bennesvig »

kriro wrote: post #34

My candidates (not in order): Getting Things Done (Superpower: Time Management) Bargaining for Advantage (Superpower: Negotiation) The Art of Learning (Superpower: Learning) Telling Lies (Superpower: Facial expressions etc...somewhat of a cheat since you'll probably need to read more on the topic) Economics in One Lesson (Superpower: Understanding the fundamentals of economics...and wandering down the dark,Austrian p…

The Art of Learning is one of the best books I read this year. If you liked that, you'd also probably enjoy The Inner Game of Tennis and Mastery by Robert Greene.

Re: What one book could give me a new, useful superpower?

#76

Post by kolektiv »

edw519 wrote: post #67

The Ultimate Secret to Getting Absolutely Everything You Want by Mike Hernacki There are many inputs that affect success: intelligence, hard work, work ethic, emotional balance, determination, and even luck. I believe that the single most important of these over which we have the most control is determination. This book is provides a pretty good recipe to cultivate your own determination. I'm even going to tell you t…

I should never comment after a fine and bibulous meal, but... I'm not sure how appealing I find the idea of a society where people thought in that way. Perhaps Bacchus is distracting me from the nuance of that point however.

Re: What one book could give me a new, useful superpower?

#77

Post by mindcrime »

zmonkeyz wrote: post #47
at-fates-hands wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good call. I noticed they have a lot of the older Executioner (Mack Bolan) books (the original 1-50 series) which I'd like to check out. I still have the first printings of the first five books in the series.

Talk about a blast from the past, my dad used to read all those Mack Bolan books. :) I swear there was one where he was on a tractor shooting someone on the cover...

Talk about a blast from the past, I used to read all those Mack Bolan books. Back in the 80's / early 90's, I devoured those things. Haven't seen or read one in years now though. It might be fun to go back and re-read some of them.

Re: What one book could give me a new, useful superpower?

#79

Post by j45 »

edw519 wrote: post #67

The Ultimate Secret to Getting Absolutely Everything You Want by Mike Hernacki There are many inputs that affect success: intelligence, hard work, work ethic, emotional balance, determination, and even luck. I believe that the single most important of these over which we have the most control is determination. This book is provides a pretty good recipe to cultivate your own determination. I'm even going to tell you t…

Building and practicing discipline is the single master skill that I've found. Everything.. learning, work ethic, comes from it. Thanks for the introduction to this.

Re: What one book could give me a new, useful superpower?

#80

Post by biscarch »

tikhonj wrote: post #72

I would nominate some book on abstract mathematics. The superpower is knowing that advanced math is not completely impossible to follow. After a while, the superpower becomes actually knowing some advanced math. I won't say it's easy, but nothing fun really is. In short: math is not scary! It also really changes how you think and view the world. Lately I've been having some fun with universal algebra, but I think any…

Any suggestions on what books? I've been looking to go further with mathematics.
Post reply on HN